She Walks in Beauty
by sazari
Summary: After the final battle. Hermione is living her own life, dealing with her own demons. When someone shows up and forces her to deal with the past she's been trying to forget and bringing her face to face with a future that she thought was burried for good.
1. In a Different World

Disclaimer: Don't own. No money was made in the making of this fic. Only sweat, tears and minced words with the Beta.

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She Walks in Beauty

by: Sazari

The country Bosnia and Herzegovina was full into spring. Its mountains were filled with lush greenery, while its rivers still reflected the sky in the glassy light blue of the chilled waters. Nestled in the valley of the Neretva River, the city of Mostar was no different from the other historical cities. Its landscape, a pattern of tall green mountains flowing into cerulean blue rivers, was tiled with white mortar buildings that were crammed together every which way. Scattered throughout the town stood buildings with boarded windows and littered with bullet holes - a dark reminder of a past not so far away.

It was within this network of crumbling buildings and abandoned fields that another world lived. Blending in perfectly with the muggles around them, witches and wizards, young and old living completely immersed in Bosnia's culture and ideals. Their homes looked normal and most hung their clothes out to dry like the rest. Very few muggles ever suspected anything different from their magical counterparts to the point where it was even difficult for some witches and wizards to discern a magical counterpart.

Communication was a simple as looking for key words in the Yellow Pages or on bulletin boards in the market place. For the witches and wizards of Bosnia every city had a small town feel. Office doors swung open and shut to allow the cool air inside eight months out of the year and everyone pretty much knew each other by name.

Mostar differed slightly in that the distance between some of the damaged buildings could be larger than others, so the anonymity might last a little bit longer since the wizards and their offices were spread out across the city that instead of growing out in a circle stretching north and south along the river.

One of the better office buildings inhabited by many of the Ministry's programs sat a few yards away from the famous Stari Most. Overlooking the iconic bridge, the flat building looked more like a personal residence than an office. Yet, any wizard in the area looking to further their education, continue research, mail something outside of the city, or register for relocation assistance had to enter that building. On the second highest floor, the elevator opened to a single door with the name "John Taylor, Head of Magical Research for the witches and wizards of Bosnia and Herzegovina."

Inside the office, Hermione sat at her desk typing out the notes in front of her, scoffing periodically at the mathematical equations that she was forced to type out symbol for symbol. The equations were not actually that simple, but the researcher was supposedly one of the best in the field and these findings were sure to be published without much editing.

She humored herself with the thought that if this paper were turned in to Professor Snape, the researcher would have most certainly failed, but Hermione continued typing though she instinctively wanted to correct the errors. This was her job after all - she was a glorified paper pusher; and while she may not love her job, it served its purpose of keeping her out of the public eye. Contrary to her previous lifestyle, the one she led now was low-key and lacked major acts that brought unwanted attention towards her. To top it off, she had also changed her name and was now known as Diana Jukofsky, secretary to John Taylor.

In Eastern Europe, unlike the western part of the country, research was serious business in the sense that the government required knowledge and summaries of all of the research going on at any point in time. It was something that had trickled over from the muggle world while it was under the control of the USSR. It was one of the only characteristics of communist rule still thought of as necessary because they wanted to be highly informed every step of the way when it came to new research. Hermione didn't mind, mostly because it ensured her a job, but also because it allowed her to keep her mind active by catching errors, figuring out the actual outcomes, or even hypothesizing more efficient methods in her head.

She had moved to Bosnia in a last ditch effort to get away from everything she had ever known - a decision she made in a last ditch effort to free herself from the memories and pain of the two years ago. Having traveled the world, there were very few places where she could see herself spending the rest of her life, so when the opportunity arose to live in a country that was underdeveloped magically and just an apparation point away from Greece and Italy, Hermione packed her bags.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was different in many ways from the wizarding worlds of England, France, and even America. Growing up, students spent the majority of their life freely amongst muggles and very few received any real magical education. The decision to get a magical education after fifth grade was left up to the parents of the witch or wizard, where those who could afford proper training and out of country tuition attended schools such as Hogwarts, Beauxbatons or Durmstrang while those who could not simply continued with muggle classmates while training to repress their powers or learn very simple spells.

The political unrest in the muggle community kept most of them unaware of the strange occurrences that would pop up from time to time, often being blamed on Croatians or gypsies. However, for this reason, as well as the sparsely inhabited mountains, many researchers would go there to work on their large projects leaving them to deal with the annoyances of the Ministry, but in return garnering anonymity from the rest of the wizarding world.

Hermione glanced at her reflection in the metal picture frame, which held a photo of her and a gathering of foreign children. It was one of the few pictures she kept in plain sight that was from before she had moved to Bosnia. Of course her style had changed now that her job had her at a desk and not running through the forest. In the picture her hair was short and feathered, and her skin was darker from spending five years under the direct sun. Now her hair was longer, but not nearly as long as it had been during her years at Hogwarts. She usually kept the length right around her shoulders and at work she kept it pulled back into a loose bun on the back of her head.

Her skin wasn't nearly as dark as it was in the picture, but the sun had done its damage and she now had a light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose and right along her hair line on the top of her forehead. In the picture, she was also thinner than she had ever been in her life, but Hermione now found that she had gained a couple of pounds over the years making her a little heavier than what she was when she left school. It wasn't too noticeable, yet from the picture one could tell how her cheeks weren't so hollow and her jaw wasn't as sharp.

Several hours after her day had started. Hermione straightened her back up and listened as it popped. After stretching for a short moment she stood up and walked over to a filing cabinet where she grabbed a particular file labeled 'Current Projects', then walked back to her desk drawer pulling out a large manila envelope. She wrote an address and put all of the researcher's notes into it, sealed it, and placed it in her stack of items to be mailed.

Walking over to Taylor's door, Hermione knocked lightly. "Come in," was his reply.

"I'm going to go take a lunch break and mail some things," Hermione said through the cracked door, "Do you want anything while I'm out?"

"No, just leave the door open when you leave because I'm expecting someone," said John without looking up from the files on his desk.

Hermione turned and left, grabbing the items that needed to be mailed along with her purse and coat. She walked to the wizarding post office hidden in the floor above and paid for the postage. "Do you have anything faster than a barn owl?" Hermione asked kindly watching as he loaded the fairly large envelope into the waiting claws of a reedy brown owl.

"I have a raptor." The man replied sarcastically.

Hermione responded by ignoring the statement completely, "That little ibis in the corner I'm sure would do a wonderful job."

The man huffed a little that she hadn't taken the bait, but did as she asked. "Most people ignore the ibis because she's so big," He responded after a moving the letter over to the ibis's satchel that dangled around its long neck.

"Well she is quite beautiful, and such a sweetie," Hermione said as she pulled a few pieces of bread out of her purse and fed it to the bird.

"So, Diana, right?" The postman asked with a wolfish grin. "What are you doing tonight?" Hermione pulled the last lump of bread out of her purse and handed it to the bird for the journey.

"Justin, right?" Hermione asked eyeing his bronze name badge. "I'm doing the same thing I do every night. Playing with my favorite six children and calling it an early night. Care to join us?" Hermione asked with a wicked smile on her face.

Justin stammered, "Um… no. I'm not really a fan of kids."

Hermione shrugged and turned quickly, "Too bad. Have a good day."

Hermione then headed out into the city. Being familiar with shortcuts in order to make her way around more efficiently, Hermione went through several side streets and alleys before she walked out into a large open air market. From there, she walked over to a butcher's stand and was greeted by a kind and portly butcher named Sam.

" 'Ello there Diana, what's it gonna be fer ya today?" he asked.

"Whatever is good, Sam." Hermione replied with a polite smile.

"It's all good, but I'd have to say the lamb's exceptional today." Sam said returning a bright smile.

"Is it fresh?" Hermione asked following their usual dialogue.

"Just walked in off the street," Sam quipped.

"Then, that's what I'll have." Hermione excused herself, while Sam cut up and cooked the meat to put on her gyro.

She walked a few stalls over to a small woman selling produce, "Diana, it's about time you came around. I was beginning to think that you were being held captive by that stupid boss of yours," the woman said. The kindness to her voice balanced out the harsh words.

"He's a good man." Hermione laughed, but at the same time tried to defend her boss.

"I didn't say he was mean. I just casually implied that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed," the woman continued, "Anyway, what will it be for you?"

"Whatever you suggest. I trust you, Mina." Hermione stated looking over the fresh produce in front of her.

"Well, then here," she said handing Hermione a basket full of fruit, "and I'll give you a basket of fruit for your boss as well, but it's only for him. Don't you go dipping in to it?"

Hermione smiled, looking at her friend knowingly, "The last time you said that, I gave it to him and he was in the loo for two hours! If you don't mind, I'll just take my fruits and let you pawn your over ripe ones off on some other poor soul."

"You are a smart girl Diana - too smart to be playing maid to that moron," Mina growled.

"I know. It's unfortunate how much I like my job," Hermione countered as Mina threw some extra fruit in the bag.

"You should be off seeing the world, making some great medical breakthrough, not sitting at some desk typing up some has-been's notes about how cross breeding two plants can make pretty colors." Mina snapped as she handed Hermione the bag. Hermione held out the money, and Mina shook her head vigorously at it.

"Honestly, let's not play this game. Just take it." Hermione argued.

"Save the world Diana and then let me show off your medals. That will be payment enough for me." Hermione took the bag and tossed the few coins into one of Mina's baskets before leaving.

As she walked away, Hermione thought back to her Order of Merlin First Class that was buried with a lot of other memories in the bottom of her closet. Maybe that would keep Mina quiet for a while. She definitely didn't have any attachment to it anyway.

Hermione stopped back over to Sam's stall and watched as he put the last couple pieces of lettuce on her gyro and wrapped it. "There ya go, Diana. I see yer letten' Ms. Mina over there tease ya again."

"You know, Sam, you really should really ask her out. I know you think she's cute and I'm sure that she'd be interested." Hermione changed the subject and smiled as Sam blushed bright red.

" 'Ere's yer gyro, Diana. Have a nice day," was his only reply. Hermione placed her payment on the counter.

"You'll never know until you ask," she said raising her eyebrows slightly before she turned and left.

Hermione walked to the park a little further down the street. She handed a piece of fruit to a man who was always there begging for something. Hermione knew from a lengthy conversation with him that he had a square meal waiting for him at home along with a warm bed. He worked odd jobs here and there and his wife worked full time, but he preferred begging to the regular 9 to 5. She walked down to the lake and sat at a picnic table with her fruit and gyro.

She was about half way through her gyro when a little kid ran up to her. "Ms. Jukofsky!" he yelled as he ran down the hill frantically waving a piece of paper in the air.

"Hi, Jeremy. What are you up to?" Hermione asked as the boy finally made it to her table.

"Can you help me with this problem? I can't figure it out and I even reread the book. It's due tomorrow," Jeremy explained all in one breath.

"Easy there, kiddo," Hermione said calmly. "Sit down, take a few deep breaths and we'll try to work it out together."

Jeremy sat next to Hermione and they began to piece together the problem like an intricate puzzle. As Jeremy began to get wrapped up in his answer, Hermione sat back and ate her gyro, nodding her head as Jeremy slowly worked his own way through the problem. "And so the answer is twenty-two over seven," Jeremy finally concluded.

"Nice job! And you figured it all out on your own, too," Hermione said proudly.

"I guess I did! Thanks, Ms. Jukofsky," Jeremy said confidently as he got up and headed back to his house. Hermione laughed to herself. She was so predictable sometimes. In general, she was very much a creature of habits as she enjoyed keeping the same schedule and going to the same places at the same times. One could almost set a clock by her. It was such a stark contrast to her last life, when she was going and coming and no one ever really knew where she would be next.

Hermione finished her gyro and saved a couple pieces of fruit for later. She had already taken longer than she had initially planned.

An hour later Hermione walked back into the office. John's door was still open, but he was talking with someone. She approached slowly and headed over towards the door listening shamelessly to the conversation between the two men. At the same moment she was about to make her appearance in the door way, the other voice in the office spoke.

Hermione was stopped in her tracks. She would have recognized that voice anywhere— the deep rumble that cut through a room like thunder. Hermione didn't need to double check. It was Snape. She hadn't seen him since his hearing, where he was acquitted from the murder of Albus Dumbledore and all of his acts as a spy. She had been the one to prepare his defense while he was under the close eye of aurors in the hospital. His only response after the verdict had been given was a brief nod as he left the room alone. And then never to be seen again.

What am I going to do? Her first reaction was to run, but knowing Snape he probably already knew that someone was there. She hadn't exactly been quiet as a mouse when she walked in. Hermione decided her best bet would be to suck it up, walk in there and pretend like nothing was different.

Hermione stepped into the door frame and knocking lightly to get John's attention. John looked up, "Oh, good you're back. Diana, I want you to meet my good friend, Tobias Prince."

Hermione stepped into the room so 'Tobias' wouldn't have to turn all the way around in his seat to greet her. She eyed him carefully as she approached. She could tell that even before he turned, he was watching her from the corner of his eyes. Hermione began wondering why Snape would be so sloppy as to use his mother's maiden name as a cover, but any thoughts left when he turned and did a double take eyeing her suspiciously. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, but continued to approach him confidently. She found her interest pique as she carefully looked over the difference between how he looked now and how he had looked that day outside the courtroom. Most noticeable was the change in his dress. He was wearing a pair of black slacks and a grey dress shirt with a simple black sweater buttoned halfway up.

Hermione struggled a bit as she watched him move towards her. It was as if he was a completely different person - an estranged brother maybe. His hair was still greasy and long, but clearly brushed and pulled back into a low pony tail. Somehow, regardless of the fact that it had been fourteen years since she had seen him, he managed to look younger. The dark rings, that had been a permanent fixture under his eyes, were gone and the deep stress lines on his forehead were replaced by softer ones.

"Tobias, this is my secretary Diana Jukofsky. I don't know what I would do without her," John applauded her with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Jukofsky," Snape looked over her critically, recognition dancing in his eyes, as he reached out his hand to greet her formally. Hermione prepared her mind for a possible invasion into her thoughts and memories.

"It's nice to meet you as well, Mr. Prince," Hermione said as she reached out her hand to accept his. Her assumption was right; as soon as their hands touched, he tried to get into her head, but Hermione had taken Occlumency lessons from this very man and therefore only allowed him to see what she wanted. He saw a few pieces of her childhood, her obtaining the job from John even though she was 32 and lacked credentials, her talking to Jeremy. After that, Snape backed out of her mind and watched her suspiciously.

"I'll send Tobias out to you when we are done here," John explained.

Hermione nodded and left the office. As she was leaving she heard Snape ask as casually as possible, "How long has she been working for you?" Having taught Hermione the Occulmency tactics she had just used, he was now sure that it was her.

"She just came in off of the street one day about two years ago. She's not very smart, but she takes good notes and can follow directions." Hermione smirked and shut the door before she returned to her note taking.

It was a couple of hours before Snape and John came out of the office and by then Hermione had finished all of the work that she had assigned herself for that day.  
"Diana, are you busy?" John asked.

"I'm sure I'm about to be," Hermione said as she stood up and stretched.

"Mr. Prince, here, seems to think that it would take far too long for you to copy his notes, but is also unwilling to release them to you for the amount of time necessary," John explained.

Hermione wasn't really surprised, "Then I guess he won't mind coming in everyday until I have finished copying his notes. That way he can keep a good eye on them," Hermione stated sarcastically.

There was silence in the room for a while. Hermione began straightening up her desk completely ignoring the two men standing there wordlessly. "Why, that sounds like a great idea," John said suddenly.

"If I were to agree to something like that, I would only be able to give you two weeks to do it," Snape quipped.

Hermione imagined that the only reason Snape would say something like that was if he was sure it was impossible. He was being difficult and he knew it. She thought about ways she could copy the notes into the computer more efficiently, but unfortunately, wizarding computers were only in their beginning stages and didn't have things like scanners. Moreover, Eastern Europe was even farther behind because of the Communist Bloc, so everything would have to be entered manually.

"I will pay you time and a half for all the overtime you'll probably work," John chimed.

Hermione thought about it a little while longer, "Fine, but since we're going to be working on my time, I need to have complete access to your notes, so that I'm not slowed down," she stated.

"Anywhere my notes are, I am," Snape said sternly.

"Then you'll either have to get over your separation anxiety or find a way to get your notes to where I am," Hermione growled.

"Are you saying that you'll do it?" John asked in shock.

"I need a laptop, but it's doable," Hermione said nodding to John, "and I need your notes organized by projects if I only have two weeks," she said looking at Snape.

"I'll come in tomorrow and finish up whatever work I have here. After that I'll be gone for the next two weeks," Hermione explained.

After a slight pause, "And Mr. Prince, I will need you and the notes to your first and second project standing on my door step at five o'clock in the morning two days from now."

She was met with complete silence. The shock and awe method had certainly worked.

After a few moments, John finally managed to find some words. "Well, I think that should be okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Diana." And he turned back to his office with a dazed look on his face.

Snape was the next to talk, "I'm not sure he even knows what just happened."

Hermione chuckled, "I'm sure I didn't scare him too much. And as long as he knows what he is supposed to be doing, he should be fine."

Hermione grabbed the last few things off of her desk and locked them away. She then grabbed her purse and coat and stood to leave. She tried to brush past Snape as quickly as possible, but he grabbed her arm roughly whispering into her ear, "I remember where we last met. You and I both went by different names at the time. I don't suppose I have to tell you how important it is not to say anything."

Hermione paused looking down at the place where Snape's fingers flexed around her arm. His grip seemed to be burning right through her shirt. Snatching her arm away, she glared at Snape with cold sharp eyes. "You keep my secret, I'll keep yours. Do we have a deal, Mr. Prince?" she whispered.

Snape nodded curtly. The nod was very much like the one he had given her after the hearing. He respected her word, and she would honor his.

"John can get you all the information about how to find me," she said shortly then turned and left without another word. Walking outside, she suddenly realized how much mental preparation she would have to do in order to deal with Severus Snape on a daily basis again. Not just for the large task she was about to undertake, but mainly because it would be difficult working with a person who was so strongly associated with her past after she had spent years trying to separate herself from it.

Hermione continued walking through the cold air, closed her eyes and said a short prayer: _God, help me._

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Thank you for reading, and for those of you who are coming back over the massive overhaul, you are a very special person. I hope you enjoy and keep reading. I would love to hear some feedback.

A special thanks to my beta catchhouse21 who pushed me through this massive undertaking and to todayiamglad who encouraged me not to drop it three years ago.

Peace, Sazari


	2. In Plain Sight

Disclaimer: Don't own. JK is the Queen.

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Snape stood before the grey door, eyeing it intently. Next to him stood John Taylor with bright, shining eyes. "I'm sure that you'll like it, and if not, it's a good place to stay while you find something better. However, it is one of the few all magic buildings in the city. So you don't have to worry about neighbors asking a lot of questions," He replied happily. Snape was skeptical and not easily convinced by John's overly delighted tone, despite the fact that he hadn't even step foot into the apartment.

As the older of the two men, John reminded him of Professor Dumbledore. Though the similarities were not necessarily in appearance, he seemed to be the kind of person who had no qualms poking his nose in wherever he could - which also happened to usually be where it wasn't wanted.

Being that John was one of the first people that Snape had gone to in order to secure his identity as Tobias Prince, he had known John for almost fourteen years. He could freely now admit that the name choice had been regrettable, but when he left Hogwarts, he didn't have time to sulk around in an attempt to gather his emotions.

He was a broken man at that point in his life having just recovered from the final battle and then barely surviving the chopping block of the Wizengamont. The alias was the best he could come up with on such short notice while standing before the muggle document curator.

"I'm sure it will do just fine," Snape said sounding more hopeful than he felt, as he stuck the key into the door and walked in. He could never understand why wizards even bothered with keys when one easy spell learned in first year Charms would render them useless. Still, he learned long ago how to go through the extra steps muggles used in order to complement the new facade he had created, regardless of efficiency or lack thereof.

Standing in the living room, Snape thought back to the time in the office when John had mentioned that Hermione, or Diana as she was now called, wasn't very smart.

Either he was a horrible judge of character -which he doubted- or she was a really good actress. Yet, he couldn't imagine that Hermione, no matter what country lived in or name she went by, could be considered anything less than brilliant. Lack of intelligence was something he would never be able to associate with her.

Snape smirked inwardly. He must be going soft, but the truth was he had always felt that Hermione was one of his best accomplishments. She worked hard for her grades -he made sure of that- and she caught on quickly to all of his lessons. He could always count on her to pay attention and raise her hand annoyingly before he could finish asking a question. Even though she could be irritating, he was proud to have helped her grow into such a strong and willful witch.

Now, she was in the middle of nowhere playing secretary for a man that he knew could be pretty clueless and allowing herself to be described as 'not very smart'.

Though he knew it was not his place to judge, it almost angered him that a light would just go out so suddenly. She was supposed to be the future of magic, the bridge between muggles and wizards, the embodiment of excellence gained from going to one of the best schools in the world. Yet, she was none of those things. She was instead wasting her time, her life, and her talents on mediocrity.

Snape realized that he had been staring off into the distance thinking to himself, while John looked at him curiously. "Tobias, is there something wrong? Don't you like the apartment?" John asked with hurt obvious in his voice. "I mean, I know it's small, which means you can't really do your research in here. However, until you can find a laboratory up in the mountains, this can keep you off of the streets," he continued.

Snape looked around and then back to John reassuringly. "This will do just fine. Thanks," he replied trying very hard to sound grateful to his friend.

"I'm glad you like it. When I heard you didn't have a place to stay, this was the best I could come up with on such short notice," John said relieved.

Snape bit his tongue before he felt the urge to mention that he didn't say he liked the apartment, just that it would do; but, he figured that a comment like that would only backfire because John was the only friend he now knew and he had really gone out on a limb for him. John probably didn't have the backbone to withstand such a remark very well.

"Thank you for allowing me to stay here. I am actually feeling kind of tired and have a lot of things that I need to get done, so if you'll please excuse me…," Snape trailed off motioning towards the door, hinting at his want for privacy.

"Well, then I'll talk to you later. Oh, and before I forget, I believe that Diana can probably find you a nice lab on the Pločno Mountain right off the Neretva River, if you are interested," John said as he turned the door knob, walking out.

"I'll be sure to get in touch with her regarding that soon. Thanks," Snape said, as he closed the door.

Snape took all of the things that he had shrunk to fit perfectly into his pockets and pulled them out. When he was done, his living room was covered with mountains of books, dishes, along with robes he would never wear again, cauldrons he would have to find room for, everything he had brought from his living quarters at Hogwarts.

Though, he hadn't lived there in almost fourteen years, having left almost immediately after the hearing, he still managed to keep everything he owned. In order to keep working on his projects, Snape had managed to live efficiently out of his pockets for the fourteen years before arriving in Bosnia. The older he got though, the more he realized that fourteen years was a very long time to drift in and out of areas, so he decided that it was time to try and settle down.

Snape walked around the apartment; there were two rooms, a kitchen/dining area, and a living room. There was also a back patio of a pretty good size fenced in with heavy cast iron railing with an intricate vine lattice design which looked encouraging. He envisioned it being a place to gather his thoughts and act as an escape to the many frustrating days he was sure to have. Stepping outside, he saw that it had a small gap on either side separating it from the patios of his neighbors. There was a small table with two chairs sitting in a corner, but the rest was bare. He would have to decide what to do with the left over space, though it was bound to remain sparsely decorated because of his minimalistic style.

Standing there with both his hands in his pockets, he glanced at his neighbor's patios on either side. One was covered with toys - a sure sign of children. The other was overflowing with plants. A trained eye and closer look revealed them to be several different types of common potion ingredients. Snape made a mental note to meet that neighbor, while inwardly groaning at the fact that his other neighbor either had a lot of children or one very spoiled child. He wasn't sure which was more disturbing.

Snape walked back into his apartment and decided to figure out the most efficient way to put all of his things away. He decided to start with the books. With a simple flick of his wand, he transfigured several bookshelves and began putting all of his books away in the one room that he had deemed the study. He tried several different types of bookshelves until finally deciding on the one he found appropriate and was able to transfigure on the wall in order to fit all of his books and notebooks.

After he finished with that project it was almost eight at night and he had been up for almost twenty four hours straight. Just as he was about to grab the beddings and clothes that he brought there was a knock on his door. He opened it and found a small woman with a bright smile holding a small covered basket.

"Hello, my name is Linda. I'm your next door neighbor," she said with an air of cheeriness that Snape was not expecting. _Why was everyone here so happy?_ "Most of children you see running around the building are probably mine...or friends of mine," she said in broken English.

Snape quickly recovered as realization hit him - there were a lot of children next door, not just one. "Hello, I'm Tobias Prince," Snape replied in perfect Bosnian.  
Linda smiled and sighed in relief saying, "I figured you wouldn't have had time to stop by the store and get anything to eat yet, so I made extra chevap. It should hold you over until you have a chance to go to the market. The kids told me it was very good." Bosnian was definitely her more comfortable language, however a trained ear told him it was not her native tongue either.

Snape thanked her as he took the basket. "So, you said you have kids?" He crossed his fingers and prayed that she just had two.

"Yes, six," she said with pride. "Do you like children, Mr. Prince?"

"I taught for seventeen years," He replied. "That being said, I like to avoid children as much as possible."

"Why would you teach for seventeen years if you don't like children?" she asked confused.

"It's actually a long, complicated story," Snape avoided answering the question. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I'm very tired and I still have a lot of things that I need to get done. Thank you again for the chevap. It smells great from here. I'm sure your kids weren't trying to spare your feelings when they told you that it was very good," he replied with a polite smile.

"I hope you enjoy it. Have a good evening, Mr. Prince," Linda said with a carefree nod before she turned and left.

Snape shut the door and manually locked it. He really needed to put some wards up, but his exhaustion was overwhelming. Nevertheless, his rumbling stomach made him realize how hungry he had become. Placing the basket on the kitchen counter, he peeked into it. It was chevap, a traditional Bosnian meal, consisting of ground beef seasoned with paprika and other ingredients and pita bread. He liked chevap and was honestly grateful for the meal, even though his clipped words with Linda suggested otherwise.

He served a large helping of the chevap onto one of the plates that he had kept from Hogwarts, grabbed a fork, but at that moment he was about to take his first bite, he heard a stampede of footsteps run past his door. _Don't those children have a bed time?_ He didn't think too hard on the subject and resumed his attempt to fill his stomach. He took a cautionary bite in the kitchen and after deeming it acceptable, looked around for a place to sit. All of the chairs and tables were overflowing with things that needed to be put away so, he headed for the patio. The cool night air contrasted nicely to the warm meal on his plate as he sat eating and watching the moon.

Taking a deep breath, he looked through the railings at the street below showing a small alleyway that ran into the river bank. During the day, some kids would try out their fishing poles in the water but, when the sun went down, it was just another empty street. The building across the way was a short, two-story structure that had been condemned when part of it had sunk into the river. He felt a sense of freedom on the balcony that had been missing for a while from his day to day life knowing that he would never have to move again to another country. Minerva had been right that day he left Hogwarts for good, when she had told him that Bosnia would be a good place to start over. It had taken him fourteen years to finally take her advice and he did so begrudgingly. He hated the idea of her being right, even if she had been one of the few friends he had after the pieces of his past had fallen. She had sat directly behind him, while everyone else kept their distance, at the trial that decided his fate.

The sound of people talking next door pulled him out of his thoughts, but they were not speaking loudly enough for him to discern what was being said. It was almost like being back in Hogwarts when the children would walk past his door chatting among each other about how much homework he had given or about some other mundane topic. Snape could hear the voices getting louder and louder until the glass door to his gardening neighbor's patio door slid open on his right and several children walked out. Surprisingly, all of them were speaking a mixture of Bosnian and English. Snape briefly stiffened at the thought of so many children living on either side of him and with the vast plants growing on the patio he only managed to see the tops of their heads. "Ms. Jukofsky, is this belladonna?" One of the boys asked in English.

Snape almost fell out of his seat when he heard the name. He prayed for Jukofsky to be a common name, but unfortunately, he discovered his prayers were for naught. Though the initial trepidation of having two large families living on either side of him has dissipated, when Hermione walked out onto the patio, he couldn't think of a worse situation to be thrust into.

"I don't know, Ivan. You tell me. What defining characteristics do you see?" She asked as she leaned against the door frame and watched the children.

"It has blue flowers and a sweet scent," was Ivan's simple answer.

"Anything else?" She questioned pushing the young boy to reach further for the answer.

"It shimmers in the moonlight," one of the little girls jumped in.

"Very good, Sarah, that's right," Hermione grinned. Snape was only slightly amazed at how much they knew about the plants growing on Hermione's patio because he was sure that their astuteness was her doing.

"Can you tell us a story tonight? Please!" The children pressed until Hermione gave in.

"Sure, how about I tell you a love story?" There was a soft chorus of approval. "So, who wants to hear about the pollinating habits of the hibiscus flower?" Hermione asked. On his patio, Snape merely rolled his eyes. Some things never change, he thought as he finished his final bites of chevap.

There was a collective "Ewww" among the children that made Hermione throw her head back with a laugh. Snape watched as Hermione then picked up one of the younger children and placed her on a hip bouncing her lightly.

"Why are you all over here anyway?" she continued as the child rested her head on Hermione's shoulder and the rest found places to sit in order to listen intently.

"Mom just came back. Says a man moved in next door," said a young boy.

"Ahh, yes. A new neighbor. It's getting kind of late though. Isn't it time to go to sleep?" She responded.

"But you said, after tomorrow we wouldn't be able to come over as much as we usually do because you'd be working on a project," another young girl countered.

"It's not like I'll be gone forever. In fact, I'll be finished in a couple of weeks and then I'm all yours again," Hermione explained.

"A couple of weeks!" they all complained at once.

"It's really not that long. I'm sure you guys will hardly notice my absence," she told them.

"Who's going to help us with our homework?" a few of them protested.

Hermione smiled at them, "I actually aid you a lot less than you think. I just help you find different ways to think about the problems."

"But we wouldn't ever get there on our own," another boy replied.

"Oh, ye of little faith. Sure, you would get the answers and you can always refer to the book if you have any issues," Hermione said as she began to stare off at the large moon hanging in the night sky.

"Nobody does that," a girl said.

"Tell me about it. When I was in school I used to get made fun of for reading all of my school books before classes even began. That's really the only way to get ahead," Hermione explained.

The little girl on Hermione's hip pulled on her collar. "Tell us a story," she begged.

"I don't know, sweetie. It's getting late," Hermione said reluctantly.

"Oh, please," another pleaded.

"Yeah, please," they all added.

"Alright, but it has to be a quick one," Hermione said. "What do you want to hear about?"

Hermione almost fell back as they all started yelling out stories topics.

"The Fiery Prince!"

"No, The Lightning Wizard!"

"I want to hear about The King of the school castle!"

"The Dark Prince of Snakes is the best!" One yelled above the rest.

"Yeah, you haven't told us if he was good or bad yet," one boy said.

"That's on purpose. What do you think?" Hermione asked as she pulled up a chair and sat down with her back to the apartment, facing the night.

"I think he's bad. He treated The Lightning Wizard really badly," one replied.

"I think he did it to make The Lightning Wizard smarter. Everything he said made The Lightning Wizard a better wizard," said another girl.

"Which one is he, Ms. Jukofsky. Good or bad?" yet another asked.

Hermione looked at the little girl on her hip. "What do you think, Christine?"

"I think he's good," she said shyly.

"And why do you thing that?" Hermione asked.

"'Cause he risked his life for The Bright Princess and The Lightning Wizard in the end," she replied.

There was silence for a minute then Christine asked, "Can you tell us that story now?" Hermione didn't say anything, she just watched the moon. Finally, she looked at all of the waiting faces and answered, "Alright, but it's going to have to be the short version." The children all leaned in a little closer from where they were sitting so that they wouldn't miss a word.

_There was a battle, a big battle, the one you've all heard me talk about. It had lasted for hours and many good wizards had fallen. The ones left were tired and they were starting to make mistakes. Spells were flying in wild directions and people were turning their backs letting their guards down. The Bright Princess had been separated from her friends and soldiers of The Dark Lord were beginning to circle around her. She was tired and drained, so she knew that she wouldn't be able to hold them off much longer. She slowly, one by one, stunned the wizards in front of her, until there was only one left, a dark wizard worse than all of the other ones combined. He had eyes as cold as steel and his face was pale and sharp. He didn't fight fair and he distracted The Princess by throwing dirt in her face. Temporarily blinded, The Princess fought to remove the dirt from her eyes. While she was distracted he leaned over her preparing to finish her. _All the kids gasped in shock. Hermione continued.

_But before he could begin, he was attacked by The Dark Prince of Snakes. The Light King of Snakes forgot about The Princess and turned his attention squarely on The Dark Prince. They fought hard and after a long time of fierce dueling, they were both tired and staggering. The Bright Princess who had continued fighting nearby saw The Dark Prince in trouble and aimed her wand at the evil man. Out of the corner of his eye The King of Snakes saw her raise her wand, so he quickly fired at her. The spell hit her square in the chest knocking her back into the tree that was behind her. The shot gave The Dark Prince time recoup and he shot the evil wizard stunning and capturing him._  
_The Dark Prince crouched over The Princess and removed the curse that was sitting on The Princess's chest like a heavy weight. He didn't stay long, and soon after headed off to protect The Lightning Wizard, while she shook off the remainder of the shock,_ Hermione concluded.

"But didn't The Princess run to the castle to fight with The Lightening Wizard and The Fiery Prince?" one child asked.

"Eventually," Hermione answered simply.

"And didn't she pull him out of the way of a spell while he was heading into the castle?"

"Only to be hit by a rouge spell on her way out of the hospital." One of the boys jumped to his feet and threw his hand in the air for effect.

The group of children laughed at the boy's dramatics.

"If you know the story so well, then you should be able to tell it while I'm busy the next few weeks." Hermione said lightheartedly.

"Ok," said the little girl, "but I get to add my own ending."

"Sounds good," Hermione laughed, "and now that we have that settled, how about you all head home and go to bed? You have school in the morning."

There was a chorus of complaints as the kids slowly headed back into the apartment. "Are you going to come with us? Mom was hoping you would come over." One of the older girls asked.

"Tell her I'll be there at the end of the hour, and I'll see all of you in the morning," Hermione replied with a soft smile, setting the youngest on the ground next to her siblings.

There was another thunder of footsteps as the six children stormed towards the front door, "Do not run," Hermione called after them. The thunder turned into light rain drops as the children left with the door slamming behind them and in raised whispers just as they had come.

Hermione leaned against the rail and raised her face to the moon like a woman on the beach basking in the sun, inhaling deeply until she felt dizzy. Letting the breath out slowly she analyzed each smell. The herbs around her deck were the most prominent and under that the hints of wet soil from the previous day's rain was mingling as well. Inhaling again, she recognized the remnants of dinner and something else - a scent from her past - but she couldn't quite place it. Cedar, an odd mix of herbs, and something else - something almost like absinthe, bitter and sweet all at once. Closing her eyes, Hermione traced the scent back through her memory. She remembered it was during the war, but it didn't fit. Then suddenly the memory hit her like a punch squarely to the chest.

_She had ducked into a tight shelter within the walls of the school and had been stunning people from there for several minutes, waiting for a moment when she would be able to make a break for it. She had been watching the field with calculating eyes when she saw Snape making an all-out sprint for the door of the school. Her first thought was that he was faster than she had ever imagined but, when she realized that he was not a threat, she continued to case the area. It was then that she saw Bellatrix, using Luna as a human shield, as she aimed her wand directly at Snape's back. He was just about to run past her hiding spot, so Hermione moved on instincts alone and grabbed the lapel of his robe with all her strength pulling him into the alcove. She was pressed firmly against him in an attempt to keep him out of view. She could feel his breath quicken, as his thumb grazed her shoulder leaving a white hot mark in its wake. His stemmed breath trailed down her neck; the length of his wand pressed against her upper back was her only link to reality. Yet as the spells began to pepper the walls around them, his wand dropped away and he pressed himself harder against her acting as a human shield. Bolts of green and red light bounced off the wall next to them as Bellatrix relentlessly cast spells in their direction._

_Suddenly, everything became perfectly still and only heavy breathing between the two of them could be heard. And there it was, the scent as if had been etched forever into her psyche, warm cedar and a mixture of his latest potion with an undercurrent of the thick, spiced scent of absinthe. In those moments, Hermione's mind raced with excuses and apologies for yanking him out of the battle but, before anything could be said, Snape turned around and left continuing his assent to the school - this time with more awareness to his surroundings._

Hermione remembered standing there for a full minute afterwards with her mind racing to store any pertinent information from that encounter. Once she felt that she had filed away every important detail, she returned to the battle with a renewed ferocity. Looking back now though she wasn't nearly as objective, as her heart fluttered and face began to flush at the memory of her hand wrapped in his black robes and her cheek flush against his chest. She found herself wishing there was a voice associated with that memory. She wasn't looking for a "Thank you" or a declaration of love. _Love? Where in the world did that come from? _That would have been ridiculous, but at least something to make her feel like he was actually there too and not just another part of that wall.

He was back now and the world felt like it was the size of a marble - far too small to escape one another. His face was more relaxed but, his eyes were still inquisitive, asking questions she didn't want to answer. His eyes looked at her that afternoon like they had for a brief second in that nook at Hogwarts. "Gah, get a hold of yourself, Diana!" Hermione snapped out loud rubbing her temples in frustration.

"Talking to yourself in the dark, Ms. Jukofsky?" The voice rolled across the patio like an earth quake, shaking Hermione so violently she felt she was going to fall right over the edge.

Her head snapped over eyeing the man in the dark corner. Hermione quickly ran through a list of possible responses, "Mr. Prince, surely that's not you sulking alone in the corner?" Hermione responded as dryly as she could.

Snape stood and walked across the patio, the light from the house casting long shadows across his face and making his features look sharper. He had lost the sweater and tie from earlier and the top button of his grey dress shirt was undone. His sleeves were rolled up to just below the elbow. He smirked, "You look a little pale, Ms. Jukofsky. Is everything alright?"

Hermione struggled for something scathing and smart but with a deep sigh decided, since she would be working with him the next two weeks, moderate honesty would be necessary. "I feel like I'm looking at a ghost."

Her straight forward answer was not what Snape was expecting. "You seemed to be alright earlier this afternoon."

"I wasn't completely surprised when I walked in that office," Hermione explained.

Snape shrugged noncommittally. "Then I will take this moment as a victory."

"Did John show you this place?" Hermione asked motioning to his apartment and ignoring his comment completely.

"It's temporary," he responded by nodding his head.

"Well I suppose that's a small miracle. Have a good night, Mr. Prince. I'll see you around," Hermione said abruptly as she walked back into her house.

"Undoubtedly," Snape responded to her back as the door shut. He watched her as she pulled the blinds closed with a quick flick of her wrist and her silhouette disappeared as she walked deeper into the house. He could hear her front door slam shut.

He thought about what had just happened. When he saw her, it wasn't like he was looking at an old student, like it was with all of his other students. She was a completely different person. Physically she looked almost the same, but every air about her was different. _Finish getting your projects copied and get out, Severus. _Snape scolded himself for allowing his thoughts to wander into uncharted territory.

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AN: As always thank you for reading please read and review.

Also as you may have noticed I am without chapter titles. Let me know if you have any ideas. I'm quite content to leave them with just numbers but I'd love to hear some ideas. If I get a full set of names I like I may use them. I'm horrible at naming chapters you think that would be the easiest part.


	3. In the Hall of the Dark Prince

Disclaimers: JK is the best I don't own the characters or much of the Universe in which this story takes place.

* * *

Hermione knocked on the door lightly. She opened it after not hearing an immediate response and took a seat in the stiff wing back chair. Linda was coming out of the last room shutting the door with a worn down look on her face. She smiled brightly when she saw Hermione sitting quietly and went to pour herself a cup of coffee along with a glass of hot water with a bag of tea for Hermione set on the small plate.

"I could have made it myself," Hermione said in Bosnian as she accepted the cup and began to steep her tea bag.

"I don't mind. It takes me an extra two seconds to be a good hostess," Linda responded.

Hermione smiled and set her cup of tea on the table. It needed a few moments to steep and cool. "So, Ivan tells me you met our new neighbor," Hermione said conversationally.

"Oh, yes. He was a bit harsh, but I think that you two would get along quite nicely," Linda chuckled.

"I don't understand why you would think that we would get along if he is 'harsh,'" Hermione said with a smile as she picked up her mug to take a cautionary sip of her tea.

"I'm not sure…" Linda said thoughtfully, "It's something in his eyes. I can't quite pinpoint it though."

Hermione couldn't help, but think that Linda got a mystical "Trelawney" look when she would start trying to make arrangements for her future love life.

Hermione sat quietly drinking her tea, staring at the bundle of flowers on the coffee table. The vase was cracked from being knocked over continuously and had never been repaired properly. The flowers were beginning to look quite miserable from being sniffed, picked at, and disheveled.

"You should have your boys go pick some new flowers for the vase," Hermione stated after a long silence.

Linda chuckled, "My boys have such great taste in flowers that they'll end up going to get the best ones out of some poor woman's garden."

"I guess you're right. That is probably not a good idea then," Hermione stated as a distant smirk played around the edges of her mouth. She looked away from the flowers, back up at Linda inquisitively. "How is your English coming along?" Hermione asked in English.

Linda laughed in embarrassment, then began in broken English, "It is alright. I spoke to our neighbor. He seemed understand me, but I was uncomfortable and he spoke to me in Bosnian after."

"So, does Mr. Bilingual have a name?" Hermione asked feigning interest.

"I knew you would be interested," Linda looked at Hermione victoriously. "He introduced himself as… Prince. Tobias Prince." Linda said with a self satisfied smirk as Hermione nodded pensively.

"I wonder if that's the same Tobias Prince who came into the office today." Hermione mentioned sipping the final remnants of her tea.

"Tall gentleman, long black hair, handsome black eyes, good build, nicely dressed. If you ask me, he's a winner," Linda began.

"Goodness, Linda, you should write his personal ad," Hermione quipped.

"I'll save my money on the personal ad and just introduce him to you," she responded in all seriousness.

"It's incredible how excited you get at the prospect of introducing me to a complete stranger," Hermione said with a groan. "What if he turns out to be some serial killer?" She asked countering Linda's idea that he was a great catch.

"Or he could be a war hero. You said it yourself, you had met him earlier. Your indifference is what gave you away because now I know it can only mean two things: 1) you're in another one of your moods, or 2) you're hiding something about the encounter that you don't want me to pry into. Either way, I'm going to ignore your wish and make it my personal endeavor to make sure you and Mr. Prince are settled and happy," Linda preached gleefully.

"You've lost your mind," Hermione replied with a glower shaking her head.

Linda smiled brightly, "Would you like some more tea?"

"No, thank you. I actually need to be getting home," Hermione replied politely her eyebrows still arched in playful annoyance. "I'm sorry if I interrupted your evening."

"Oh, my dear, it's always a pleasure to have you. Sleep well." Linda replied taking Hermione's cup and shooing her towards the door, "I know you probably have an early morning, so don't let me keep you here any longer. You know how chatty I can get."

Hermione left with a smile and a few niceties as she closed the door to walk down the hallway towards her apartment. She slowed as she passed the door separating her apartment from Linda's. She thought about Snape sitting in the shadows of the patio when she was telling the children the stories and how ready he was to harass her once the children had left. She remembered feeling like a fly on the wall in that alcove during the battle - how much things had changed.

That night, Hermione went to bed as soon as she got home, but she was plagued with horrible dreams. When she would wake from them, she would have to fight off the terrible memories of blood and battle, children crying, and friends dying all around her. Nightmares of her husband lying in a puddle of blood inhabited her thoughts and wouldn't leave. Though she was eventually able to get back to sleep, Hermione had never been happier to hear her clock chime for five am. She jumped out of bed and dressed for her morning jog. She stretched in her living room, jogged down the two flights of stairs, and out into the nearly empty streets of Mostar.

Hermione jogged a little bit faster today than she did most days, but she had a lot of feelings to work out before she faced the day ahead. She waved to the few people who were up that early and jogged around an extra block for good measure. She then headed to the park, where she grabbed some water from a water fountain and sat in the grass for a deep stretch. After feeling a little more flexible, she jogged around the park and into the market place, where a few people were already set up for the day and most were just finishing. Hermione walked over to a young girl who made crepes, while her mother arranged the leftover food from their harvest.

"Good morning, Aurora," Hermione said in between deep breaths.

"Good morning, Ms. Jukofsky. Are you here for your breakfast?" the little girl asked as she flipped two cakes in her skillet.

"Yes, please," Hermione said as she eyed the food spread.

"We have strawberry jam today that I made all by myself last night. Do you want some?" Aurora asked.

"Oh, that would be absolutely wonderful," Hermione said gratefully. "How was your test yesterday?"

"I got the highest grade in the class, thanks to you!" Aurora beamed.

"I didn't take the test, so I'm sure I had very little to do with it," Hermione stated. "That was all you. You are a very bright girl, Aurora. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Aurora took a small handkerchief, laid it on the ground and then put the hot crepes on it along with a cube of butter and a small glass container filled with jelly. She tied it all together in the handkerchief and got up from her kneeling position.

"Is there anything else I can get for you? Sorry, we don't have any fruit, but Daddy hasn't made it here with them yet."

"No, that will be all," Hermione said as she dug in her shorts for her money. "How much is it, with the jelly?" she asked.

"I was told not to take any money from you, since you always help me study." Aurora said with a stern face.

"Aurora, if you don't tell me how much this cost, I'll force you to take twice as much," Hermione as seriousness slipped over her features.

The little girl shrunk as she faced Hermione's well honed intimidating face, "I'm sorry Ms. Jukofsky, but I won't take it." Hermione smiled at the little girl's spunk and then tossed a handful of coins into a bowl.

"Just don't tell your mom and save it for college," Hermione whispered as she took her tied handkerchief with food and began the jog back to her apartment.

Hermione jogged up the fire escape to the roof and then down the stairs to her apartment. Opening the door, she set the food on the table and then headed over to Linda's, knocking with moderate force. After hearing a lot of noise, but no answer, she let herself in just in time to see Linda running around trying to get five kids ready for school.

"Linda, do you need a hand?" Hermione asked from the doorway.

"No, I've got it," Linda explained as she hurriedly checked through Jacob's homework, but just then Sarah and Emily began fighting over who was the owner of the red ribbon in Emily's hair. Linda groaned in annoyance.

"I've got the homework; you can deal with crowd control," Hermione offered. Linda sighed, but looked as if a hundred pound weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Linda ran off towards the girls' room while Hermione walked over to eight-year-old Jacob and looked over his homework. Jacob began to get fidgety, "Oh man, I hate it when you check my homework, Ms. Jukofsky," Jacob complained.

"And why is that? Am I too hard of a critic?" Hermione asked as she sat down and took his pencil to mark down any notes she felt were necessary, so that he could go back over his answers.

"Because you are way harder than my teacher. Papers you say should get C's usually get A pluses."

"Well then you should go back to your school and demand a better education. If you breeze through your classes, how will you ever develop a strong work ethic? Besides, when I was in school -," Hermione was cut off.

"Yeah, I know, it was really, really hard and you had to work a lot to get good grades," Jacob finished her sentence indicating his indifference to her speech.

"I'm glad your listening skills aren't lacking like this assignment," Hermione said with a smile that let him know she was kidding.

She quickly checked the rest of his homework, going no easier on it that she normally did, and returned it to him along with her suggestions. While she was at it, she checked everyone else's homework before they were walked out of the apartment. Once she had finished looking over five-year-old Nathaniel's coloring project for his first grade class, she gave him a light pat on the head and smiled brightly. "Very good, Nathaniel, it's perfect."

Nathaniel smiled brightly and stuck his tongue out to his brothers and sisters, who were all scribbling madly to correct their errors. Ten-year-old Ivan glared at him and then hissed, "Just wait until you start bringing home your addition homework. You're not safe just because you're missing your two front teeth."

Nathaniel looked at him perplexed, "But I'm not missing my two front teeth."

"You're about to be!" Ivan growled as he raised his fist in threat.

Nathaniel yelped and ran to Hermione's side, where he clung to her leg. "Was that necessary, Ivan?" Hermione rolled her eyes, "Threatening your younger brother isn't going to help you finish those problems any faster."

Ivan groaned, but went back to his homework. Sarah the oldest at thirteen was the first done, so she jumped up and took the paper to Hermione, who looked at it and gave an approving nod. "Remember to watch your tenses," she warned as she handed it back to her. Soon after that, they had all finished. Hermione checked again giving her last bit of advice, and handed them all their lunches. "Linda, they are ready to go," Hermione called as she inspected their uniforms.

Linda walked out of the back hallway with a sleepy Christine on her side. "Will you watch Christine, while I walk them across the street and then head to the market?"

"Of course," Hermione said as she reached out and took the struggling toddler on her hip. She walked them all out watching as all five children headed down the hall. "Emily," Hermione called after the departing group. Hermione watched as Emily's twelve-year-old shoulders tensed and she slowly turned around.

"How about handing over that lipstick and rouge? I know you won't need them for school." Hermione extended her free hand and eyed her as she pulled out the red lipstick and dark blush. "Have a good day," Hermione offered with a bright smile.

Emily grumbled and ran off to catch up with the rest of her siblings. Hermione was left smiling when she thought about how much Emily looked and acted so much like her old schoolmate, Lavender - it was uncanny at times. _At least she's much smarter_, Hermione thought as she readjusted Christine and turned to head back to her apartment.

Hermione felt her stomach knot when she turned and saw Snape standing there with his wand out sporting an amused look on his face. After a few seconds to assess the situation, Hermione figured he had probably been out warding his room. "Good, morning Mr. Prince," Hermione offered as she tried to think of an alternate route to her room, maybe she could just walk around the entire building and then levitate herself up to her room.

"Good Morning, Ms. Jukofsky. You're up early," Snape said glancing in her direction. Just as quickly though he went back to warding his doors, leaving the hallway clear for her to walk through. Hermione took the opportunity to step past him.

"I have a few projects to finish," Hermione replied.

"Yes, I know. I heard all six of them this morning," Snape said bitterly.

"I guess that's just something else you'll to have to get used to. These walls are paper thin and you now have six children with a Bosnian super mom as neighbors."

"Well, it can't be nearly as bad as having to be in the same house with those Weasley twins for a week," Snape growled at the fowl memory.

Hermione laughed, "I definitely agree that these children are far better than the twins." Just then Christine began to stir as she clutched harder to Hermione's neck.

"Mommy, don't leave me," she cried.

Hermione's face fell as she wrapped the child tight in her arms, but Severus was the first to speak, "Has she never been away from Linda?"

Hermione shook the child lightly, "She isn't talking about Linda." Hermione noticed Snape's slightly scrunched face and continued, "Christine was adopted. Her real mother left her on the steps of the Ministry a couple years ago."

Christine's eyes opened and she saw Hermione, "Princess?" she asked as she reached up and touched Hermione's chin.

"No, no darling. It's me, Diana." Hermione said lightly.

"D'ana, don't leave me," Christine pleaded as she clung to Hermione's neck.

"Not any time soon." Hermione said, "Don't worry because you have a wonderful family and a mother who are going to be there for you because they love you."

"D'ana, do you love me?" Christine asked.

"Of course I do, sweetheart," Hermione said as she held Christine even closer.

Christine's face creased in confusion when she turned noticing Severus was in the hallway. Though he was only watching the situation unfold, with her pudgy finger extended towards him, she whispered, "Prince."

Hermione stopped breathing at the question, but that was nothing compared to the face that Snape was making. His face had turned an alabaster white and his eyes seemed to take over half of it.

"Christine, I don't think Mr. Prince is familiar with those stories," Hermione tried to relieve the tension.

"But he's The Dark Prince," Christine persisted.

"I've told you before, Chrissy. Those are all fictional stories. They're not real," Hermione explained slowly knowing that it was difficult to explain such things to a young child.

"No, they really are real and his name is The Dark Prince. Mommy said so," Christine continued as if she hadn't heard anything Hermione had said. "You're a great witch. I know you're the only one who could do all of that."

Without realizing it, Christine had hit a sore spot. "I am no hero, kiddo" Hermione replied softly as she eyed the seams in the carpet.

"But- ," the young child continued bringing Hermione out of her daze.

"Chrissy, tell Mr. Prince 'Good day', so we can get inside," she told her.

The little girl smiled and waved, "bye-bye, Dark Prince."

Hermione nodded farewell with a forced smile on her face dodging around him quickly into her apartment. She set Christine by her basket of toys and watched her pull out a jigsaw puzzle. "D'ana, are you mad at me?" Christine asked softly.

"Not at all," Hermione said as she went into the kitchen and grabbed a plate and silverware to sit at the table. "I'm sorry if I seemed a little cross, Christine."

"So, Mr. Prince isn't The Dark Prince?" Christine clarified one more time.

"No, he's not," Hermione assured her.

Christine focused on her puzzle for a few moments and then asked, "Is it alright if, when I think of The Dark Prince, I use Mr. Prince's face?"

Hermione sighed, "It's perfectly alright, Chrissy." _Lord knows I do_. Hermione rested her head in her hand as she pushed her food around on her plate. _How am I going to do this_, she thought.

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AN: Thank you for reading now please let me know what you think and I look forward to seeing you in the next chapter.


	4. In Darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own anything borrowed from the Harry Potter Universe

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After awkwardly running into Hermione in the hallway, Snape headed into his study and began gathering his research. As he pulled his notebooks, organizing them into piles as he went, he was impressed by how many he had accumulated over the years. He went into the bedroom, transfiguring a shelf into the wall, where he was planned to place his research records. With precision and patience, he slowly and steadily arranged all of his notes. It took him most of the morning to do this, until he had one wall that was completely filled.

After arranging his reference books, he moved on to the rest of his house. Several hours later, he found the hardest part was transfiguring the shelves and furniture. In addition to that, every time he took a break, he would start thinking about Hermione and what he had learned about her in the last couple of days. She was obviously enjoying a new identity, but he could sense that there was something else going on beneath her tough exterior. It wasn't the stories about the war that seemed to bother her because she freely told the children stories, though conveniently leaving her own involvement murky. But, there was something else - something she held deeper. In the end, he concluded that something must have happened after she left Hogwarts. She had to be at least 30 by now, if not older. That was enough time to live several lives considering the things she had gone through since turning 11.

He couldn't help but noticed how dark she seemed in comparison to her years at Hogwarts. Granted, she was never one of those kids who always saw the world as rainbows and puppies. She knew sadness and pain, but now there was something more. It was as if, instead of the casual brush with these emotions, she was reliving them every moment of her life and now doing everything she could to stifle them. I was almost unnerving.

Hermione finished the last of her projects and labeled them to be mailed. She set up her laptop, which had been waiting on her desk when she had arrived at work slightly later than usual. Once everything had been finished and locked away, Hermione loaded up her bag and headed out. She was going to need the rest of the day to clean and prepare herself mentally for what was to come, but the good news was that Snape was her next door neighbor, so meeting to get things done wasn't going to be as much of an ordeal as it had the potential to be. Hermione scoffed realizing that she had just equated Snape being her next door neighbor to a good thing.

Upon finally arriving home, she didn't much waste time getting her house in top shape, but then again it wasn't that hard. The worst part was putting all of the kids' toys away, which had managed to place themselves into odd corners. Hermione wondered if it would be worse if she had kids of her own. The idea brought her crashing down to reality.

Hermione quietly began to sing while she continued cleaning, doing anything to get the incredibly painful images out of her head. "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts. There they are a-standing in the road. Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head, give 'em a twist a flick of the wrist that's what the showman said," she sighed when the forced cheeriness of the song did nothing to lighten her mood. Maybe having Snape over all of the time would give her something else to focus on. _Stop it,_ she scolded herself. She really needed to stop thinking that having Severus Snape in her house was a good idea, especially because this was her personal space, which would be up for judgement the entire time he was over. Maybe everything would be better if she just started thinking about him as Mr. Tobias Prince. Hermione chuckled to herself. That was definitely stranger.

The day went by pretty quickly and before Hermione knew it she had completed everything she had set out to do that day and then some. She had set up her house in a fashion that would allow for easy retyping of notes and it was only two in the afternoon. She looked over her room one more time and decided to go over to Linda's house to see what the kids were up to.

A few minutes later, Hermione found herself sitting at a large table helping all of them with their respective assignments. Slowly, one by one, they would finish and run off to play, until finally only Ivan was left.

"It's not fair. Why do they get easier homework than me?" Ivan complained.

"You know, it would go faster if you didn't complain as much," Hermione said gently as she knocked on his book in order to refocus his attention.

"Diana, would you like to stay for dinner?" Linda asked from her spot in the kitchen.

"Sure, do you need any help?" Hermione asked standing up from the table and stretching.

"No, but this house needs to be cleaned. The kids know that. Can you make sure that everyone is doing what they are supposed to do?" Linda asked as she stirred flour in a large bowl.

Hermione nodded heading around the house to make sure that everyone's space was clean and that they weren't slacking off. Occasionally, she would help or do something that hadn't been assigned. By the time everyone had finished cleaning, the aroma from the kitchen had taken over and roast beef and vegetables could be smelled throughout the house.

"Ma, can we go to Jasmine's until dinner?" Emily asked on behalf of Sarah and herself.

"Dinner is in half an hour. Don't be late," Linda consented. The two girls kissed their mom on the cheek and ran out quickly.

Hermione eyed the two giggling girls, "I wonder what they'll do at Jasmine's for half an hour."

"Probably talk about boys. They're growing up so fast, I feel bad that they don't have any privacy here," Linda said as she added some broth to the vegetables and started making dinner rolls. Hermione noted the excess amounts of dough.

"That's a lot of dough for just us. Are you expecting company?" Hermione asked as she nudged Linda over and started mixing the dough, which turned out to be difficult since there was so much of it.

"I just want extra," Linda replied. Hermione noted that it sounded kind of evasive, but took the opportunity to let off some of the steam that had been building up lately.

Once the dough was in the oven, Linda went to wash up while Hermione offered to clean the kitchen some. She was putting the last pan away and setting the table when Christine came into the kitchen with a small daisy in her hand.

"Is that for me?" Hermione asked as she knelt down to speak to the little girl at eye level. Christine nodded. "It's very pretty. Thank you."

After that, traffic picked up in the house. Linda came out of the bathroom, the boys came out of their rooms, and the door opened to reveal two happy girls, Sarah and Emily, and an out of place and slightly uncomfortable Severus Snape. _Tobias Prince,_ Hermione reminded herself.

"Oh, Diana, I invited Mr. Prince. Have you two met each other?" Linda's smile was coy and a bit scary in its own way.

"We've met," Hermione said quickly in order to ease the expectation in the room, "but it's nice to see you again, Mr. Prince. Did you manage to get all of your unpacking done?" Hermione asked as she set another place for him at the table.

"Yes, I just finished earlier today. Thanks for asking," Snape replied civilly. "Thank you for inviting me for dinner, Linda. I haven't had time to stop by the market yet. Oh, and the chevap was very, very good. I'll be sure to bring your basket back," he said redirecting the conversation.

"It isn't a problem. Any time you're the least bit hungry, just come on over," Linda said as they all gathered around the table.

"And she means it. If you don't, she'll come and get you. She can hear a stomach growling from a mile away," Hermione joked as they all sat down. Snape just gave a tight smile of acknowledgement.

Once everyone was seated, they all took the hand of the person next to them in preparation for grace. Hermione, who was sitting next to the confused Snape, offered her hand, as did Ivan on the other side of him, but Snape simply bowed his head and folded his hands in his lap. Linda didn't miss a beat. She said a quick blessing and everyone dove into the food.

The meal was pretty normal. The kids talked about what they had done at school and some of the important things in their happening in their lives, while the adults listened and added their two cents. Around dessert time, the conversation started to lull and Linda turned her attention towards her new guest.

"So, where are you from, Mr. Prince?" Linda asked.

"I'm a researcher, I usually go wherever my work takes me," Snape replied avoiding a direct answer.

"I thought you said that you taught children," Linda looked confused.

"I did for the majority of my working life but, I retired and, as of now I am focusing primarily on my research."

"Can you name some of the places you've been?" Emily asked with curiosity.

"Oh, let's see. India, China, Japan, Russia, Great Britain, Iceland… I've been all over Africa and South America. I even stopped in Antarctica for a bit, but it was far too cold for the three days I was there," Snape listed as if it were of very little concern.

"All that for research?" Sarah asked in amazement. "Sounds like a field I need to go into. It must have been one heck of a project."

"It is very monotonous," Snape said simply. Hermione was mesmerized by how patient he was being with all of the questioning.

"Mr. Prince, are you going to stay here forever?" Christine asked.

"I haven't thought that far ahead," Snape said looking around the table finally landing on Linda. "So, Linda, enough about me, tell me about yourself," Snape asked bringing the conversation away from his line of work.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Linda asked as she dipped into a second serving of winter broccoli and squash and then passed the bowl around the table again.

"How did you end up here in Bosnia?" Snape said motioning to the house around him and the kids at the table.

Linda smiled politely, "To be honest that's more of an after dinner conversation, which I would love to share with you if you'd like to stay a little longer for coffee."

"I suppose I'm going to have to since my interest has been piqued," Snape replied. "How about you, Ms. Jukofsky? What is your story?"

"My story? Well, let's see, I grew up and went to a private school for witches and wizards in Great Britian. After spending 7 years there I decided to leave the wizarding world and try a muggle approach. I went to America and received a degree in Education. I taught for a while and then afterwards I left to do some traveling tried my hand at waitressing and soon realized that I would always be a witch and decided to try and settle some place completely new. I ran into John who was frantic for a new secretary, and I convinced him that I was the girl he needed and I've been living here for two years now," Hermione lied easily with the same fabricated story she had been using since acquiring her alias.

"So this private school, did it teach you about Animagi, potion making, or was it just the basics?" Snape pried.

"Of course I learned about all of that. I can't say I'm any good at it though," Hermione replied convincingly.

"Don't be so modest, Diana," Linda intervened seeing that Snape wasn't looking too thrilled with the turn in conversation. She thought that it was because Snape was losing interest in Hermione for being so poorly educated. "She learns fast, and with all of the research that she documents, I'd be willing to say that Diana can cast spells with the best of them," Linda stated in Hermione's defense while trying to pass the dinner rolls around one more time.

"That's really interesting. You know, I remember seeing a lot of basic potion ingredients growing outside on your back porch," Snape said as he regained some composure and took a sip of his tea.

Hermione smirked, "Yeah, Linda was right in saying that I've learned a lot since I started working for John, but to be honest, I wouldn't know the first thing about mixing them. When I first moved here, I fancied that I would continue my education as a witch but, like so many other things, it was just a phase that I got over." Hermione was beginning to tire of the lies. She never had to carry them on this far and wondered why Snape was prying so much. He knew every bit of her story was a lie, but why couldn't he just let them go? It's not like he wasn't going to have time to question her later.

"So, you're telling me you have never had any formal training in potions, ever." Snape asked.

"Just enough to get by," Hermione said with a soft smile. Secretly, she felt like that was a low blow considering that he had been the one to train her personally her last year right before the war. She had even helped him with several of his bigger projects. "But enough abut me...," she began.

Snape scoffed. Then, taking note of the startled faces of the children who were all staring at him quizzically, asked in a slightly softer voice, "Surely, Linda, your kids will receive a higher wizarding education."

"If they choose and if I can afford it." Linda replied calmly, "As it stands right now, they are going through primary school and when it's time for them to enter their 9th year, they will make the decision for themselves."

"I suppose that's not too bad," Snape said as he looked over the children who were obviously done eating.

"I would support their decisions. However, it would break my heart to have them live so far away." Linda admitted.

"The closest school is Beauxbatons." Hermione explained anticipating Snape's question, "And you've probably already noticed that the age at which the children leave normal schools here and the age at which they enter Beauxbatons are different by three entire years. That means personal training is required, which just adds to the already expensive education they plan on receiving for being students who are outside of the school's native country."

"Mama, may we be excused?" Emily asked getting bored with the topic.

"Yes, dear but, you need to wash and dry all of your dishes before you go anywhere." There was a mass exodus of kids as they all ran into the kitchen to clean their plates and utensils.

"And make sure they're clean. You know the lazy one always works double, so you might as well do it right the first time," Hermione called back. There was a collective groan.

Linda smirked, "I'll be honest, I don't know what I would do without you, Diana." Turning to Snape she said while point to Diana, "I was on my last fuse when this girl showed up and saved my sanity."

"How so?" Snape asked.

"Well, she watches the kids, so that I can have some free time. She comes over to help with cleaning and cooking. She also frequently helps the kids with their homework. You see, when she showed up, I had just recently become a widow and was barely making it to the next hour - let alone the next day," Linda explained.

"Sounds like she was your own personal savior," Snape said dryly.

Hermione turned to him and glared. "I think that's the best description," Linda said with a bright smile. "But what I don't understand is why you never got married and had kids. You're such a smart girl. I bet, if you settled down in one place, you would find a good man in no time." Linda said to Hermione encouragingly.

Hermione, who was still glaring at Snape, kept the same face while turning toward Linda. "Wow, this is uncomfortable. I think the time is right, I'll do all of those things," Hermione said after letting the annoyed look fall from her face to a light smirk, but the darkness never left her eyes. Being that Snape had been watching Hermione closely, he was the only one to take note, while Linda remained pleasantly oblivious.

The three adults sat in quiet for a while, "Mama, can we go outside and play?" Nathaniel asked motioning to the rest of the kids, who stood behind him waiting for her response.

"Yes, but I want you back by sunset," Linda replied. All of the kids were sent into a scramble running quickly put on their socks and shoes.

Christine walked up to Hermione, "Diana, I'm tired. Will you tuck me in?"

"Isn't it a little early to go to bed?" Hermione asked as she picked up Christine, while looking over to Linda to see what she should do.

"She hasn't been feeling well," Linda explained.

Hermione put the back of her hand against Christine's forehead, "Sweetie, you feel as hot as a kettle. Come on. Let's get you tucked in right now." Hermione excused herself from the table and walked Christine over to her small bed in one of the back rooms.

Linda smiled as the two left, "I thought she might be getting sick. My poor baby." Linda's voice was distant, "She has nightmares when she's getting sick."

Severus was not blind to the ease in which Hermione was able to switch into caretaker mode. He was at a loss for word when she left and starting to get uneasy when Linda changed the subject, "What do you say we retire to the living room for some coffee, or are you more of a tea drinker at night?" she asked.

"Later at night I prefer tea, but coffee will be just fine if that's what's on tap," Snape replied with his customary polite smile.

"I have tea. Diana doesn't drink coffee in the evening, so I always have tea ready for when she comes over. I'm sure she won't mind sharing."

Linda went into the kitchen and poured two mugs, one with tea and the other with coffee. Snape stood following her into the living room, where he took a seat in the wing back chair that had Linda offered him.

Hermione came out of the back hall a few minutes later, noticing that the two had begun talking in the living room. She walked over to join them taking a seat across from Snape, next to Linda. After a few minutes she realized that she was the only one without a mug.

"I see how it is," Hermione joked as she stood to go get her own cup of tea.

"What? I made the tea. What more do you want?" Linda joked.

"I guess it's plain to see that I am no longer a guest here," Hermione grumbled loudly as she headed for the kitchen with a teasing smile on her face.

Once she was out of sight, the other two settled into another silence. "You know, now that the kids are gone, I would love to hear the story about how you arrived here," Snape said politely after feeling like long enough had passed.

Linda took in a deep breath, "I guess this is as good a time as any." Snape leaned back into his chair settling in comfortably in order to listen keenly as Linda began her tale.

_Well, I was born and raised in Russia. My parents were the leaders in our village and I had a pleasant childhood. When I turned sixteen, our village was put under strict government control, because before then the communist government really hadn't even noticed us. The people who were put in charge were opportunistic bastards looking for any reason to lock someone up or kill them depending on how they felt any given day. I was a witch, but my parents were not magical. They had no idea what to do with me, so we kept it very quiet. Yet as I grew up, my powers grew as well and it became harder for me to control them. Well, word spread and they were preparing to come after me and my family. The government was based on the idea that everyone was equal, and it wouldn't have been right for someone else to have more than a fellow comrade, even if a part of their nature._

_That night we ran away, but my mother was killed in our flight. We moved to Bosnia, where my father and I settled down and I got the proper training for controlling my magic. Everything seemed fine, but one evening my father died when a man tried to mug him one night after he was leaving a bar. I was left alone, but luckily, I had been dating Eric at that time. We married soon after and he took good care of me. We toured all of Europe for our honeymoon. He wrote poetry and took pictures. Everything was perfect - at least for a little while._

At this point, Hermione walked in holding a small tray with dessert biscuits and placed them on the small table in between the three seats. Linda smiled politely at her in acknowledgment and continued. _After a long extended honeymoon, three years to be exact, I became pregnant with Sarah. Eric didn't want to raise kids on the road, so we came back to Bosnia and settled in a small village to the north. I went to work as a seamstress and he became a travel agent - a darn good one at that," she said smilingly. "He sold all of his pictures and poems, but required that they give 5% of all royalties back to his family._

_We lived a comfortable life. Soon after Sarah came Emily, then Ivan, Jacob and finally Nathaniel. With Nathaniel, I had major complications giving birth, where both of our lives were in danger, so we decided that it was probably best to stop there. However, we loved having the kids around so much that we felt like if we had one more that everything would be perfect. We went to a Ministry funded orphanage and met Christine. She couldn't have been any more than two years old and had been through so much, yet the world was still good in her mind._

At this point, Linda stopped to compose herself as tears danced at the corners of her eyes but, none fell. It was evident that she had had her fair share of struggles throughout her short life, but somehow always managed to keep her head held high. Hermione leaned in and squeezed her hand lightly. "It's okay if you want to stop there, Linda," she encouraged.

Linda nodded in appreciation, but continued, _A few months after the adoption was complete, Eric was playing with Christine and Nathaniel when he all of the sudden laid his head down and didn't get up. We rushed him to the hospital, but by then it was too late. The doctors said he suffered a brain aneurism._

There was a long pause, in which the three remained silent soaking up the information that had just been courageously laid out in front of them.

"And you pretty much can figure out the rest. I moved here with the kids so that we could start over in a place where no one gave us pitying looks or handouts. It took a while to adjust to Eric not being with us anymore. I couldn't figure out why my husband was dead. It wasn't long after we moved here that Diana found us. When she came knocking on my door three months later, it was like an angel sent from heaven.

"Don't get me wrong, I never would have made it through if it weren't for my children, but… but enough about that," Linda stopped deciding that she had shared enough. "Are there any women in your life, Mr. Prince?"

Hermione groaned, "Don't answer that. It will only encourage her. She fancies herself a matchmaker in her spare time."

Linda was about to argue a reply when the door swung open and five messy kids ran in, "Mama! Taylor elbowed Nathaniel in the cheek," Emily said as the group of children encircled Hermione and Linda.

"Oh, yeah? Well, Emily kissed Jeremy," was Jacob's defensive response to Emily's attack on his friend.

The volume level tripled as all five of the kids began yelling at each other. Linda stood up and glared. Everyone stopped talking and waited for her instructions. "Sarah, Emily you have first showers. Make them quick." The two girls ran off quickly. "Ivan, Jacob, you two will be next. In the meantime, get all of your things ready for school tomorrow. Jacob, before you do that, I want you to bring me the first aid kit." The two boys left quickly. "Nathaniel, into the kitchen. Wash your hands and wipe off your face. Then, let's see what we can do about that cut." Nathaniel ran towards the kitchen.

Linda looked around triumphantly heading into kitchen to deal with Nathaniel's wound. Hermione looked over at Snape. "You're more than welcome to stay. This is "Family Fun Night", which means they play games that give them opportunities to fight about something completely irrelevant."

"I wouldn't want to impose," Snape replied leaning forward to get out of his seat.

"Nonsense. I stay because, even with your apartment in between, it's so loud over here that I can't get any work done. I can't imagine how loud it will be in your room," Hermione said coyly.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to get to know the neighbors," Snape replied apprehensively sitting back in his chair again.

"Mr. Prince," Linda called from in the kitchen. "Will you please come in here?"

Snape stood from his chair and walked into the kitchen, while Hermione went to check the girls in the showers. "What can I do for you?" He asked as he saw Nathaniel sitting on the counter so Linda wouldn't have to bend down to bandage his cheek.

"This is a pretty nasty cut. You wouldn't happen to know a spell to heal it, would you?" Linda asked.

Snape looked at the wound. "I'm sure Diana would be better at something like this, but I think I can come up with something," Snape stated. He pulled out his wand and cast a simple healing charm that knitted the wound shut and healed it. "There you go," he said. "Good as new."

Nathaniel thanked him and headed to the back to his room to get his things ready for the next day and wait for the shower to open up.

"Unless you know something about Diana that I don't, spells aren't really her thing. She never goes anywhere without her wand, but I don't think I've ever seen her use it. I have to remind her not to pick up glass with her bare hands sometimes," Linda explained.

"It doesn't seem like you use much magic either." Snape mentioned.

"I barely remember to get my wand off my dresser most mornings. However, when there's glass shattered on the floor or some heavy lifting to do, I will go get my wand. Diana will rearrange her entire apartment by herself without magic if she needed to," Linda explained.

Snape listened nodding pensively as he took in everything he could in order to understand Hermione's new identity. He wasn't surprised that she would go from one extreme to another as far as magic was concerned, but also saw very little logic in it.

Hermione walked to the kitchen a few minutes later with Sarah and Emily, both of whom were dressed and smiling. "Mama, we want to play 'Life'," Sarah said to Linda.

"Sure," Linda replied. "Why don't you go set it up? Mr. Prince is going to stay and play with us, so make sure we have enough pieces for him as well."

Both girls replied with a smile and ran into the living room, where they began setting up the board on the coffee table. Linda left the kitchen to take care of Christine, who had woken because of all the commotion and wanted to be held.

Hermione joined Snape in the kitchen with a pile of towels ready for the washing machine. "Mr. Prince, may I ask you something?"

"I guess, but only as long as you don't wave your hand in the air incessantly to get my attention before asking," Snape replied with a smirk.

Hermione rolled her eyes at his comment, but continued, "How have you managed to change so much?"

Snape stared at her blankly, "After two days, that's the best question you came up with? Aren't there more pressing issues you want to know about?"

"You didn't answer my question, but I'm merely asking because you're so different from the professor I used to know. You're more relaxed and, dare I say, kinder." Hermione offered.

Snape considered responding sardonically, but decided in the interest of civility to remain straightforward, "I think everyone here is a little different - Linda, you, myself. Bosnia is a place where we don't have to look over our shoulders every moment of every day. We lead new lives and those new lives are considerably easier than before. The interest of keeping that peace, we make a point to be as frank and open with the others as much as we can."

Hermione smirked, "It sounds like you're trying to guilt me into admitting something."

"I'm certainly not above that," Snape retorted. "Now, can it be my turn to ask a question?"

"You can but, I'll be honest, whether or not you get an answer will be a toss-up," Hermione explained.

Snape nodded that he understood but, backed off slightly discouraged. "Well then, if that's the case, I won't waste your time," he said passing by her quickly heading back into the main seating room wishing now that he hadn't agreed to stay as he looked for a place to sit. He noticed a small wooden chair in the corner of the living room and as he began walking towards it, Nathaniel stood right in front of him staring up quizzically.

"You're a strong wizard, aren't you," Nathaniel asked.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," Snape said as he kneeled down to be at eye level.

"My mom has all of us go to a witch down the street once a month who teaches us about being witches and wizards. She told me that you can tell when you run into a powerful wizard because even when he's casting a simple spell, you can feel it through your entire body. I don't always feel it when my mom casts simple spells but, I did when you fixed my cheek," Nathaniel said pointing to his healed wound.

"Have you ever felt it before?" Snape asked. For a young child, Nathaniel seemed to be very in tune with the magic around him.

"The first time was when Ms. Jukofsky got mad at me," Nathaniel said. "I told Ms. Julia about it and she said that it meant Ms. Jukofsky must be very powerful - even stronger than herself."

Snape smirked. "You know you are a very adept young boy. I bet that you are going to grow up to be a very powerful wizard one day," he said readily.

Nathaniel smiled brightly and was about to say something else when Hermione stepped out from the back, "Nathaniel, come get your shower."

"Yes, Ma'am," and the young boy disappeared down the back hall.

"I hope he wasn't bothering you," Hermione said in a very kind voice. Snape almost had to look and make sure that it was her talking.

"No, he was being quite the gracious host," Snape replied.

Hermione looked like she didn't believe him, but carried on anyway. "I'm so sorry that you have to wait. Thank you for being so patient," she said as she walked over and offered him a seat next to her on the small sofa. Her job was done now and they were just waiting for the rest of the children to come out of the shower. Linda was wiping down the dinner table with a droopy eyed Christine on her hip and the rest of the children were sitting around the coffee table playing bumper cars with the small pieces of the game.

A few minutes later, Nathaniel came out in his PJs with his hair soaking wet. All of the kids began jumping in excitement, "Mama, hurry up, let's go," Ivan yelled.

"I'm not going to play this time. I'll just watch," Linda said as she came out cradling the sick Christine.

The kids didn't waste any more time, "Nathaniel, it's your turn to pass out cars," Sarah said as she handed him a handful of little cars and motioned for him to pass them out. Nathaniel picked out the blue one and put it down in his place. Then he walked around handing all of the cars out: black for Ivan, orange for Jacob, white for Emily, yellow for Sarah, red for Snape and green for Hermione. Snape looked at the small car with disdain. Hermione couldn't help but smirk as she set her green car on the ledge of the table. Snape leaned forward quickly and exchanged his red one for her green one, his arm brushing against hers as he pulled back.

"Mr. Prince gets to be the banker since he's never played with us before," Ivan added.

Snape was taken aback as a troth filled with fake money was thrust toward him across the board, "I don't think that's a good idea. I've never played before, so maybe next time," Snape said as he passed the money over to Hermione. She smiled lightly taking on the responsibility. Snape couldn't quite place the smile on her face - it was a look of surprise mixed with a little bit of trouble. He chose to ignore it, because he would be having enough of this woman starting tomorrow.

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AN: Thank you for reading. It's been bitter sweet writing this story, and if you enjoyed any portion of it then it was time well spent.


	5. In the Lead

Disclaimer: If JK Rowling wrote it. I don't own it.

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"What do you mean I have to get married?" Snape said in indignation as he stopped at the church.

"That's life, Mr. Prince. You have to get married," Linda said with a coy smile.

"What an awful life," he scoffed.

"Just imagine that she's the perfect woman," Emily said as she handed Snape a small pink piece.

"If she's the perfect woman then she'll sit quietly in the back," Snape snarled as he placed the small piece in the far back corner of the six person car. Hermione laughed out loud and spun the wheel. Snape growled at her, "Go ahead and laugh, but you're next Ms. Jukofsky, and I hope he's an idiot."

Hermione moved her red car piece ignoring his snarky comment and stopped it next to Snape's green one in front of the wedding chapel. Emily handed her a small blue piece, which she placed in the driver's seat and switching her pink piece in the passenger seat. "Why did you do that?" Sarah asked.

"I'm tired of driving. I'd rather read, so I'll let my husband drive for a while." Hermione explained.

Snape sneered. Some things never change.

"Is there something wrong with your lip, Mr. Prince?" Hermione asked looking concerned.

Snape just rolled his eyes motioning for the next person to take their turn. After an hour or so of playing games, laughing and joking, they came to the end. Hermione won with the highest pay and the best house, while Snape was a school teacher with one of the lowest pays living in a cabin.

"I'm never going to play this game again," Snape growled as he handed his full car over to Emily, along with four other pink and blue pieces. "Explain to me again how I ended up with more children than could feasibly fit in my car," he asked to no one in particular. Emily was replacing all eight of Snape's "children" back into the game box with a smirk on her face.

"You're just really lucky, Mr. Prince. Don't worry," Nathaniel said, "next time we'll play Clue."

"Can't wait," Snape said under his breath.

"Alright, everyone off to bed, so we grown-ups can get to sleep too," Linda said as she stood up from her chair and began kissing all of the kids on the head. "And don't forget to say goodnight to Diana, because it could be a while before you see her again."

"Oh, I doubt that," Hermione said as Sarah and Emily were the first to come over and kiss her on the cheek good night. The boys followed and soon everyone was in bed.

"I do hope that you'll make some time for us in the upcoming weeks," Linda said as she hugged Hermione tightly.

"You know I can't stay away for too long before I start missing all of the chaos," Hermione said as she hugged the small woman back.

Linda looked at Snape and smiled politely. "I hope we haven't scared you off forever. We would love for you to come back whenever you feel like it. Even though we know you're still settling in and everything, don't be a strange."

"I'm sure that I'll be around," Snape said as he bowed politely to Linda and headed for the door. "I can't thank you enough for inviting me," he said as the three adults walked together towards the door.

"It was our pleasure and great getting to know you. Will you make sure Diana makes it home safely," Linda asked casually.

"I'll keep an eye on her every step of the way," Snape assured her as he opened the door for Hermione. Hermione said good-bye to Linda one more time and headed to her apartment, while Snape shut the door and followed behind her.

"Good night, Miss. Jukofsky," Snape said after she made it to her door.

"Good night, Mr. Prince," Hermione said unlocking the door with her key. "I'll see you at five. Don't be late," she said just before she walked into her apartment.  
"I wouldn't dream of it," Snape said to the empty hallway before turning to his own door and heading inside.

Once she had locked the door to her apartment, Hermone picked up a few stray rags and cleaning supplies that had been left out earlier that day putting them away. Realizing that her house was now ready for her guest tomorrow, she stepped out through the sliding glass door onto the back porch for a few deep breaths of fresh air. She sat in one of the chairs while propping her feet up on the railing. She was staring at the colorful sky and the setting sun for only a few minutes when Snape walked out onto his own porch with a hot mug in his hand.

He sat down in his chair leaning back while calmly sipping the steaming tea in his hands. He was staring out into the glowing horizon of the city, when a soft sigh reached his ears. Snape looked down at his still half-full mug, contemplating whether he should break the silence that lingered between them, but before he could reach a conclusion, Hermione spoke.

"The rousing Game of Life didn't relax you enough for bed," Hermione asked conversationally without turning to look at him.

"I just needed some quiet time to stop my ears from ringing," Snape answered looking back out over the railings.

"They can get a little loud," Hermione admitted.

"It wasn't everyone - just the two oldest girls - that were twittering all night," Snape clarified carefully.

"Sarah and Emily don't twitter," Hermione defended hotly.

"I wasn't talking about them. I was talking about you and Linda," Snape said smugly when out of the corner of his eye he saw a large plastic fire truck getting closer and closer. He barely had time to duck as it whizzed past his head and hit the wall to his left.

"Hey, it's not my fault that the two of you just love to chatter when you're together," Snape responded with a playfulness behind his voice that Hermione had never heard before.

"I think you're still sore that you ended up with so many kids," Hermione countered.

"That's a definite possibility," he said as he finished the last of his tea and heaved himself out of the chair. Looking at the truck lying to his left, he bent down picking it up. "I believe this belongs to you," Snape told Hermione as he tossed it over to her across the patios. "See you tomorrow."

She caught the truck with ease and as he was about to walk over the threshold into his apartment she added, "Don't be -"

"Late. Yes, I know, Ms. Jukofsky. Good night," Snape slid the door closed and shut the blinds.

~~~~  
At four o'clock, Hermione's alarm went off and she quickly got up, took a shower, and dressed comfortably for the day ahead. She magically dried her hair for the first time in a long time and then placed her wand in the hidden pocket on the inside of her sleeve. Hermione had always kept her wand on her ever since that day, but she used it very seldom for anything other than cosmetic spells.

Once in the kitchen, she began to cook breakfast. She cracked several eggs into the skillet scrambling them with a fork. As soon as they were cooked, she scraped them into a bowl and added some shredded cheese to the mix. A few moments later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come on in. It's open," Hermione yelled towards the front of the house.

The door opened and Snape cautiously walked in with several notebooks in his arms. He eyed the room carefully moving towards the living room slowly. Hermione watched his reflection in a small mirror she had on the wall next to the kitchen. "You can just put the notebooks on the table. Have you had breakfast yet?" Hermione asked.

"No thanks, I'm fine," Snape replied as he walked back towards the kitchen.

"Alright," Hermione said as she took her bowl of eggs and a piece of bread over to the small dining table. She took a seat across from his notes motioning for him to sit down across from her.

"So, do you understand what's going to happen?" Hermione asked as Snape sat down and began stacking his notes organizing them over and over again in a compulsive manner.

"Yes. You have to copy all of my notes word for word, so that your post-communist government can keep tabs on me. Sounds pretty simple," Snape replied not looking up from his piles.

"I would like to point out that my post-communist government is now also your post-communist government. It have been must be tough having no allegiances," Hermione immediately regretted her statement.

"I believe I've had enough allegiances to last me a life time, so forgive me if I don't immediately jump on the new government bandwagon," Snape uttered. "That said, what do you need from me to make this process as painless and quick as possible?"

Hermione immediately switched into her secretary mode, "I need all of the notes on your first project, unless you already have the abstract, introduction, and materials and methods sections written in which care I'll take those.

Snape shook his head and Hermione exhaled exasperatedly, "They never do. Do you have any questions before I begin?"

"I have your confidence that anything you read will be kept confidential? The last thing I need is to be scooped by another researcher." Snape inquired looking her straight in the eyes.

"Of course. I keep secrets for a living, Mr. Prince, so there should be no problem. I'm hoping that it won't take longer than the two weeks to complete," Hermione said as she happily munched on last of her eggs. "It really depends on how smoothly the whole process goes and how long your projects are."

"Also, if I don't touch the project while I'm here, you don't have to write about it, correct?" Snape questioned.

"Exactly," Hermione replied.

"How do they keep track of all of these scientists and their works? How do they know if I'm working on something and not telling them about it?" Snape asked.

Hermione could practically see the wheels in his head turning.

"I could tell you I don't know, but that would be a cruel lie," Hermione set her bowl down and looked up at the ceiling. "They monitor certain products and track who is buying and in what quantities. Random sweeps of your home and work space are done by officials, but they're not as obvious as cops walking around. They pay your friends and family to look in and report back to them. It's the whole big brother idea."

"And here I was thinking that communism was dead."

"This isn't communism. This is a government that keeps tabs on its people. All they know is control," Hermione said.

"I'm sick of being controlled," Snape growled under his breath.

"I don't know what you're complaining about," Hermione said. "It's not like you have to really go out of your way to get your notes to someone within the week that you start your project. As long as you aren't doing things that can be considered "Dark Arts" then, you shouldn't run into any problems."

"Well, good thing we're neighbors because then all I have to do is walk it across the hallway," Snape replied.

Hermione glowered, "I would appreciate it if you kept normal business hours seeing as I'm not your personal assistant. However, I don't mind you dropping them off, if you don't mind leaving them with me over night."

"Perhaps once you get caught up, I could leave my notes overnight. Since you're, as per your boss 'not that smart', then I can't imagine that you would get much use out of a bunch of notes," Snape gave Hermione a wicked smirk.

Hermione's response was a simple huff. She finished the rest of her bread and walked the bowl into the kitchen.

"Hit a sour cord, Miss. Granger?" Snape quipped.

Hermione unceremoniously dropped her dishes into the sink with a loud bang and stormed back out into the dining room. "I don't call you Professor Snape so, I would appreciate you if you didn't call Miss. Granger. That life is not one I care to relive," Hermione growled.

"Well, then what do you suggest I call you? As you know, I'm still not quite a part of this new life you've created for yourself," Snape almost felt bad for the purposeful slip.

"I'm not this only one in this room that has decided to put the past behind them, right Mr. Prince? Diana is perfectly acceptable. Now, let's get started on these notes so we don't prolong this process anymore," she snapped.

Hermione stormed over to the laptop on the table and stuck her hand out waiting for Snape to hand her the first set of notes.

Snape handed her the notebook on top of the pile he had created, "Good luck, deciphering it."

"Well, it's a good thing that you are here so, I can just ask you if I get lost," Hermione said as she flipped the book open to the first page and began copying the spiraling handwriting. The two sat in silence for a while with only the sound of her keyboard clicking.

Snape stood and began walking around the main living area looking over each picture frame carefully and all of the other simple decorations. He stopped by the mantle and looked at all of the pictures above the sofa. A family picture of Hermione and her parents, a picture of Hermione with Linda and her kids, and a most impressive picture of her shaking hands with Gaspard Shingleton, the inventor of the self-stirring cauldron. The picture captured him whispering something in her ear making her throw her head back in laughter.

When he heard the chair that Hermione was occupying scrape against the floor, he turned towards her. She handed him the notebook and walked over to the table grabing the next one.

"That was rather quick," Snape said.

"It's certainly not my first day on the job," Hermione said shortly as she sat back down and began typing.

"I figured that you would have needed me to decode some of the notes by now," he said.

"The truth is that your handwriting is better than the majority that I've had to copy. In addition to that, I had to read your scrawl across my papers for years. You really knew how to make my greatest works bleed with a red pen," Hermione explained continuing to type mindlessly as they entered into a comfortable silence.

Snape went back to looking at the picture of Hermione and Gaspard. Her hair was a little bit longer than it was now but, her eyes held the same dark overtone that they did now.

"Tell me, Mr. Prince. How long was it before you realized that you would have to restart this project?" Hermione asked.

"Excuse me?" Snape asked taken out of his trance.

"While it has potential and could work, the way you started sets it up for undesirable results. Unless, of course, you overcome some serious physical boundaries," Hermione said as she nonchalantly flipped the page in his notebook.

"It took me three more weeks of kicking a dead horse. How did you know?" Snape asked suspiciously.

Hermione smiled, "I copy a lot of research and several people for several different reasons brought in experiments that followed this same general format. Months later, they would come back having basically to start everything again."

"You memorized that because you had to type it up a few times," Snape could hardly hold in his surprise. He knew from her days in Hogwarts that she had an uncanny talent of remembering what she read, but he hadn't realized how in tune that ability actually was. "I don't think I want you to copy my notes anymore. I only allow complete morons to read them until I have come to a point that I am comfortable sharing," Snape said authoritatively. He was pretty sure he saw Hermione blush, as she turned her head away from him looking down at the book before her.

"I know a few genuine morons who fancied themselves as scientists if you would like me to refer one of those," Hermione said. She felt her heart begin to race at the memory of what it was like to banter back and forth with someone. She almost laughed at herself. Here she was, her heart beating like it hadn't in a long time all because she was able to have an intellectually stimulating conversation.

Snape saw the color return to her cheeks and laughed to himself, realizing that the reason she was so flushed probably had more to do with the subject matter than having a man hovering over her. She was a very interesting girl, indeed.


	6. In Shock

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter universe. I just borrow shamelessly.

* * *

The day went on as Hermione made a lot of head way in copying down Snape's notes. She easily worked through three of his smaller notebooks before she got up and stretched, around 9 am.

"Would you like some coffee?" Hermione asked as she stood up walking into the kitchen with a yawn.

"That would be nice," Snape replied as he followed her.

"I'll get it started. Why don't you go get your next couple of notebooks and something to keep you occupied that doesn't include looking at my picture with Gaspard," Hermione offered.

"Oh, you noticed that?" Snape almost seemed embarrassed, but not quite.

"Yes and I'd almost feel obligated to tell you what he said to me, but it would take away your fun. I think I'll hold on to that little nugget of information, so I don't ruin it for you," Hermione said.

Snape glared. It was a face that would have scared her years ago, but now she simply blew it off. "Just walk in when you come back," she said as she began setting up the coffee pot.

Snape left without saying anything. Taking his completed notebooks with him, he headed next door where he grabbed his next project and three large tomes that accounted for his light reading. He took a moment to wash up a little bit in the sink and headed back to Hermione's apartment. He was glad she told him to just come in, because he hadn't stacked the books very well in his arms and found that it was easier to open the door with his wand instead of attempting it by hand.

He walked in and set all of the books down on a coffee table in the middle of the room making his way back to the kitchen, where Hermione was waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.

Her impatience was starting to get the best of her, so went about getting two mugs setting them on the counter along with a coffee cake. "Linda made it, and don't tell her, but I'm not really a fan, so feel free to help yourself." Hermione placed a knife by the cake and took out a small plate from her cabinet. Snape had skipped breakfast and was now very much regretting it, so he helped himself to the cake while Hermione watched the coffee pot intently.

"You know, I hear that a watched pot never boils and it's probably faster to do that magically ," Snape said as he chewed on his cake.

"I know," Hermione said politely. There was a long silence as Snape finished the piece of cake.

"Then why don't you do it?" he asked after a while.

"I just don't like using magic when it's not necessary," Hermione replied.

"Then, why don't you get a secretary job in the muggle world?" Snape asked.

"Because I'm a witch," she replied simply.

Snape was beginning to feel irritated at her circular logic, but also understood that thought process perfectly. "I'm surprised that there aren't any pictures of you and the dynamic duo anywhere in sight. How are they doing?"

Hermione chuckled, "Let's not pretend that you actually care about them or how they're doing. However, in the spirit of conversation, I can honestly say that I haven't seen or talked to them in nearly 10 years."

Snape stared in shock, "You mean to tell me that after all you guys went through you just stopped talking?"

"Yeah, we kind of had a falling out. Everyone really liked to assume that I would end up with Ron one day. It just made sense for us all to become a family and since Harry had Ginny ended up together, which obviously left Ron and me. Yet, the problem was that I never cared for Ron that way. It just never seemed right. I tried to get in touch with them a few times, but they were always too busy. I suppose it was a good thing in the end because it made leaving a whole lot easier," Hermione said casually.

"I left to avoid the judgment of the two-faced people who would never forgive me for what I did to Dumbledore and yet have the nerve to insist I go to every war function. What was your reason? Things couldn't have possibly been as difficult for you. You were a hero. People wanted to name their first born after you," Snape expressed in puzzlement. There wasn't really much that lead up to it, and he didn't bother with a transition. He was hoping to catch her off guard to force her to say a few things about the subject, even if they didn't make any sense. He could hardly imagine why she would want to talk about her past any more than he would.

Even though she had heard every word that he said, Hermione chose to ignore him as she jumped forward when the coffee stopped brewing. She busied herself with pouring and cleaning up an invisible mess. "Are you going to answer me or have I just wasted my breath?" Snape asked after she handed him a cup walking past him, not even bothering to make eye contact.

"I'll only say this: Everything I did was to keep those that I cared about safe. I didn't want the attention," Hermione said hesitantly as she went back to her computer indicating the end of the conversation.

Snape wondered what was going on in her head. He remembered the time in John's office when he had tried to use Legilimency on her. He wasn't going to dare try his luck now, but he could practically feel her defenses coming, building walls to keep him out. Maybe in time she would trust him enough to tell him - after all they were neighbors.

Several days passed and things moved along very smoothly. Hermione made it through his research shelves faster than Snape could have ever imagined. He was also impressed at her ability to multi-task. While he had never seen her studying at Hogwarts, he had heard that she was the kind of person who would sit down and not let anything distract her. Occasionally, she would say something about Hogwarts but, never about the years after the battle up until she got to Bosnia. It was like those memories had been stored away so deeply that he would never be able to get close. There were a few times that Snape had thought that maybe she actually had them erased, but then decided that she wouldn't be foolish enough to do something like that.

Around noon, Hermione stood up and stretched. Snape had fallen asleep on her couch with the book open on his chest. He stirred at the sound of the chair scraping on the hardwood floor in the dining room.

"Would you like to go grab some lunch, Mr. Prince?" Hermione asked as she setting the notebook she had just finished on top of the ones that he had brought to read.

"Sure," Snape replied as he brushed the sleep from his eyes and quickly tried to gather his scattered thoughts. Though noon was their normal lunch hour, they had never dined together, preferring to eat separately so as to get some alone time.

Hermione grabbed her purse as she walked towards the door. "I'll let you drop your stuff off in your apartment and wait for you down stairs."

Snape was still dazed from his long nap. He grumbled at himself for how much he had slipped since his days as a spy. There was a time when as soon as he woke up he could make split second decisions and no one would have thought that he had just rolled out of bed. "Give me a few minutes," Snape said as he followed her out and headed to his apartment.

Hermione walked down the four flights of stairs to the area of the complex where they kept the laundry room and the mailboxes. Inserting the small key into the box number 5632,she pulled out a single white envelope. It was addressed to 'Ms. Hermione Cayer' from the United States Government. She eyed it carefully. On the back, there was a space big enough to fit her finger and quickly tear it open, but she simply flipped it over and stared at the name - her name.

"Did the mail come already?" Snape asked as he walked up behind her.

Hermione quickly tossed the envelope back into the mailbox shutting the door, "No," Snape eyed her and the mailbox cautiously knowing fully well that she was again hiding something. "Are you ready for lunch?" Hermione asked.

Snape shrugged noncommittally and the two walked out into the bright summer day. They took a back alley route to the market place that he had never used before and on more than one occasion. He had felt completely disoriented as to where he was.

"You know, I think next time it would be okay to take the least complicated instead of the least time consuming route," Snape said.

Hermione just shrugged continuing to walk. "Have you ever looked into other applications for your research?" She asked after a moment of walking in silence.

"What do you mean?" Snape asked, clearly not putting too much thought into the question.

Hermione thought about her word choice for a second before responded, "All of it is about how hot spots of magic assist in the ease of potion making. Yet, you never ask questions like: Why are there hot spots? If they assist in potion making, what other magical applications could you use the hot spots? How do you discern varying hot spot levels? Not all of them can be of equal caliber, right?"

"I sense you have a theory in mind already," Snape replied dryly looking towards her.

Hermione blushed as she continued to stare straight ahead, avoiding eye contact, "I do, but it's silly."

"You brought it up," Snape replied wondering why she would start such a conversation if she was intent on not saying anything substantial.

Hermione exhaled, "What if we've been looking at magic all wrong? Witches and Wizards have always just assumed that magic is something internalized that has a forced route of escape through an object, like a wand for instance. Yet, clearly if there are hot spots then, this hypothesis could be shattered. What if it's actually a resource, like oxygen?"

She paused glancing over to make sure Snape hadn't tuned her out. She had his undivided attention as he waved his hand in a "keep going" type of motion.

"Previous studies show that there were more hot spots years ago, but as more and more witches and wizards started training at schools, the hot spots began to diminish, especially in areas such as England, Germany and France where wizards lived more densely," Hermione felt herself beginning to get caught up in her explanation. She stopped to breathe looking to Snape to clarify that he had followed her train of thought.

"So, what do you think compensates for the loss in intensity of a hot spot?" He asked trying to anticipate where her thought process would lead.

"Magical plants - which would explain why forests tend to have more magical energy than cities," She replied.

"Have you tested this?" Snape inquired knowing before she even answered that an idea like that wouldn't go without some sort of data to back it up.

"A while ago I created a specialized Geiger Counter which traced magical particles in the air. It seemed to work when I tested it out. There was a slight difference between readings on my back porch before I added the plants and after," Hermione described.

Snape's eyes widened, "Please, show me this when we get back to your apartment. This could be the breakthrough I've been waiting for. I can't believe you've been reading my research for days now and are just mentioning this."

Hermione blushed again, "I wasn't sure you'd be interested in hearing what a "not-so-smart" secretary had to say."

As they stepped into the market, the regular hustle and flow had already overtaken it. Hermione smiled at an older woman, who was looking Snape over with an inquisitive eye. Hermione chuckled heading over to Sam's stand.

"'Ey there Diana, Tobias, what can I get fer ya today?" Sam asked with a bright smile.

"Whatever is good, Sam," Hermione replied as she leaned on his counter and looked at his selection of meats and vegetables.

"It's all good Diana, but if I may make a suggestion, the trout is especially good today," he pointed to a bucket of iced fish sitting under the shade of the awning.

Sam picked up one of the fish and held it up for her to see. Hermione looked into the fish's glassy, lifeless brown eyes as she felt the color begin to drain from her face. She fought to keep her focus, her breath becoming labored and palms beginning for sweat, but she found herself immediately in a place she couldn't escape. She tried to shake her head, as if the memory were a fire clinging to a match that could be put out by a brief flick of the wrist. Hermione began to shake, frantically and quickly grabbing her purse in order to leave the stand.

"Diana, you a'right?" Sam asked as he tried to regain her attention. Snape looked on in concern and lightly reached for her arm.

"Don't touch me," Hermione said yanking her arm out of his grasp. "I'll be right back." Hermione said as she turned quickly but, her foot got caught on a root and she tripped into the cart hitting her head against the corner and falling unconscious.

_There was blood everywhere, on the walls, pooling on the floor; the bloody footprints went outside and into the woods. Hermione looked around, feeling nauseous. It was hard to see where one person's blood began and another's ended. Hermione looked frantically for a face. One face. His face. But it wasn't there. Maybe he had escaped. Please, God, let him have escaped._

_Hermione ran to the back of the small building. She threw open the thin door blasting in. This was where they kept the children, where she spent most of her time. "Richard," Hermione spoke softly into the room as she walked through. The room was as much of a mess as the one before it. Children killed in their beds, while others were missing, possibly kidnapped._

_Hermione carefully moved things back. "Richard," she continued to whisper._

_"'Mione," it was a soft voice in a corner. Hermione ran over to him, throwing the furniture, and anything else that got in her way, aside._

_"Richard," Hermione stumbled and tripped as she flew towards his voice. "Ricky," Hermione continued calling out to him. Finally, she made it over the debris and lifted the table that was knocked over on top of him._

_"Richard, look at me," Hermione kneeled by him and began looking over his wounds. He was a tall man but, here on the ground curled up in a fetal position, he looked so small and vulnerable. It didn't take long to see where all of Rick's blood was escaping his body, as she discovered a bullet hole in his abdomen. He looked up at her, eyes brown, warm and deep. His dark brown hair stuck to his forehead and she could hardly see the blonde highlights from the sun through the blood. Hermione quickly began applying pressure to the wound. "Don't worry, love, we'll have you fixed up in a minute," Hermione told him as adrenaline began to take over. She needed to save him. He had to live. _

_"Shh…shhh, 'Mione," he whispered as he took her hand moving it from his wound to his chest just over his heart that was struggling to beat._

_"Richard, I need to keep pressure on it," Hermione tried to pull her hand away, but he held on tighter. She began to cry, "No! You're going to make it through this. You're going to live!"_

_"Hermione," his voice was soft and sweet. He motioned for her to lean closer. She did._

"Diana," the voice was deep and harsh. Hermione didn't want to listen though. She wanted to hear Richard.

"No, Ricky, come back to me," Hermione said as his face began to fade from her mind.

"Diana, snap out of it."

Hermione began looking around everything seemed tall, blurry, and bright. She closed her eyes tight - it was far too bright. Orienting herself, she realized that her back was on the ground, but she kept her eyes shut firmly. The back of her head was throbbing from the impact with the stand and the ground. Suddenly, two hands grabbed her shoulders roughly. She could feel a face leaning close to her ear, "Miss. Jukofsky, I really suggest that you snap out of it." It was Snape - no one else could carry that tone - but she didn't want Snape.

"Richard, come back," Hermione pleaded as she wished the bright light would go away.

"Hermione, snap out of it now!" Snape growled in her ear.

Hermione's eyes suddenly shot open and she stared at Snape blankly, who had a very worried look at his face. "Sorry," Hermione said as she sat up and pushed her way out of Snape's arms. Mina and Sam were also standing around her, in addition to several passers-by who had stopped to make sure that she was all right.

"Sorry," Hermione repeated as she stood up and brushed herself off. "That's what I get for recently missing my morning run," Hermione chuckled trying desperately to play off the situation that had just unfolded.

"Sam, I think I'll pass on the fish, but thanks." Hermione said, as she laughed and began looking over the other meats, "How about a salad instead?"

Sam, still frazzled, went back to his spot behind the counter and began cooking while everything else slowly returned to normal. Hermione looked down at Snape, who was still kneeling on the ground and looking up at her as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. "The food doesn't taste as good from down there, Mr. Prince," Hermione said with an even tone. "Mina, why don't you show me what you have today?" she asked quickly as she tried to busy the others, so they would stop gawking at her like she was a strange creature in a fish tank.

Mina didn't say much for once in her life. She simply followed Hermione back to her stand gathered the best of her fruits in a small paper bag.

"There are some extra for Tobias," Mina said handing Hermione the bag.

"Thanks, Mina, and I'm sorry I worried you. Today has been an off day," Hermione apologized again easily coming up with a benign excuse to deter the anxious looks.

"Diana, when I have "off days", I miss count change and gaze off into space while a costumer is trying to talk to me. I don't pass out and start yelling some man's name at the sight of a fish," Mina said simply, but sharply.

Hermione shrugged, "What can I say? I don't know how it happened. It was just strange."

"Diana, I understand if you don't want to tell me anything, I get that really, but you have to tell someone. What happened to you was like watching a slow car wreck," Mina said being genuinely worried.

"Thanks for the advice," Hermione responded tossing money into the basket and heading back over to Sam's cart. He was still talking to Snape.

"Well, what are you two talking about?" Hermione asked as she walked up to the two men, who were both in deep conversation, but pretty sure that she didn't need an answer to know who was the topic of their conversation.

"Post-traumatic Stress Disorder," Snape said plainly.

Hermione glared at him before turning her attention back to Sam, as he handed her a salad in a covered plastic bowl before she even asked for it. "Now, Diana, I'm not going to say anything else because I know that you are going to get enough of it from Mina and the rest..."

"But...," Hermione interrupted with a sigh. She really didn't care to have this conversation with any of them at the moment considering that her mind was still reeling over what had just happened.

"But nothing, this is the second time you've glared at Tobias here. Before today, I hadn't seen anything other than a beautiful smile on your face. I'd like to think that you are just always happy and that this man brings out the worst in ya, but I think you know better and I'm just now figurin' it out. You need to talk it out," He barrelled on giving her a stern, meaningful look before finishing up Snape's sandwich, wrapping and bagging it.

They both laid their money down with a simple thank you and left. Snape followed Hermione watching her steam and brew in silence. They walked for a while, before they came to the park. Hermione tossed the beggar an apple and walked over to her usual empty table slumping down onto the bench and setting her food in front of her, even though she had lost most of her appetite after the debacle.

They ate in silence, and Hermione mostly picked around her leafy salad. Hermione handed him the extra fruit that Mina had given her and he took it without question. Twenty painfully silent minutes later, they were finished. They both tossed their trash in a nearby bin and Hermione led the way back to their apartments. This time, she took a much easier route even though it was obvious that it was much longer. Snape was surprised by the gesture, as she obviously was doing it for him, remembering the conversation they had had on the way to the market place.

Once they made it back to the apartment complex, Hermione walked up to her door and looked at Snape. They stared at each other, the silence filling the space between them, both at a loss of what to say.

"I need your next project," Hermione finally uttered, breaking the tense quietness.

"I'll bring it right over," Snape replied. They both turned to their respective doors but, before Hermione could open hers, Snape said, "I can be that person if you want. I'm willing to listen, if you ever just need to talk."

Hermione stood still in shock with her key in the door, dumbfounded. Earlier, when everyone had been telling her she needed to talk to someone, she knew that they were subtly hinting at Snape but, she had convinced herself that he wouldn't want to hear what she had to say. This sudden offer surprised her though, and now she found herself thinking that she may not know as much about him as she had thought. He was definitely an unpredictable man.

* * *

AN: I apologize for any formating issues that may appear throughout the story. I'm generally not one to make excuses but as I moved back and forth between GoogleDocs and Word, had all kind of issues making a readable format, but Hey, why reflect on the past. You're still here. Lets focus on the future. Chapter 7 here we come.


	7. Tn Dangerous Waters

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter universe. I just borrow shamelessly.

* * *

Hermione sat on the couch in her living room with her face buried in her hands. She had to figure this out. It was like every semblance of control had been torn apart and thrown out of the nearest window. Countless questions were pulling at the seams of her thoughts but, the embarrassment of the events that had just unfolded were stifling. How was she going to maintain control of her emotions when they very obviously got the best of her earlier? The whole idea behind the alias had been so that she could avoid dealing with her repressed memories. If she faced them, what good was Diana Jukofsky? Maybe she did need to talk to someone. That was a thought that was uninvited and lingering. But to whom? Who could possibly understand everything she had gone through in her lifetime? Linda would be a clear choice but, in the same breath she would have to explain how she could lie to her about everything. While she was sure Linda would understand, Hermione needed someone to support her during this difficult time, not the other way around.

Just then, Snape walked in without knocking, as he had become accustomed to throughout the week. "I told Linda that we would be over for dinner this evening," he said setting another handful of notebooks beside her computer.

Hermione looked relieved but, then her face changed back to dark and accusatory, "Did you tell her what happened today?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"No, because it's none of my business. That's between you and perhaps everyone else who witnessed that spectacle," he replied.

"Thanks," Hermione let out a sigh of relief only really listening to the first part of the sentence, but not really feeling any better.

She stood heading over to her computer. Sitting down, she collected her thoughts and started typing furiously. Snape had no doubt that she would work even faster now in an attempt to avoid any type of unwanted thought. He sat down on her couch spreading out all of his books in front of himself.

After the first couple of days of working with her, he had started doing research while she typed. He had gotten a moderate amount done and was surprised at how having someone close by kept him focused while he was going through his books. Occasionally, he would get up, go back to his apartment and grab another book. He really couldn't have asked for a better deal when they had made their agreement in John's office.

Hermione would, at times, stretch or pace around the house to get the blood flowing through her legs after sitting for so long but, today she didn't move from her seat at all. She was on a mission working straight from around 1 o'clock when they got back from lunch until 5 o'clock. Snape walked over to her seeing if she wanted to head over to Linda's for dinner but, found her sitting in front of the computer staring blankly instead of typing. He observed also, that all of his notebooks were placed on the side of the table where she always set down the notebooks she had finished.

"Diana, are you ready to go?" Snape asked tentatively holding a stack of books that he wanted to leave in his apartment before dinner.

Hermione blinked being brought out of her trance, hit save on the computer and nodded, "Were these the last of the notes for that project we discussed earlier?"

"I think I may have a few more notebooks for you to copy tomorrow that follow along the lines of our earlier discussion, but those are all I have today. I may change the focus of my research completely. Our conversation really hit a nerve, so I spent the entire time you were typing on trying to find other, more valid methods for this experiment," Snape seemed hopeful but, not overly enthusiastic that she had been right. There were more questions at work here than how to brew finer potions.

"It seems like you've changed directions multiple times," Hermione said motioning to the computer screen. Snape's eyebrow rose wondering what she could possibly be getting at with that statement. Hermione explained, "Every time you get close to one conclusion, you seem to get sidetracked over to another area of the study."

"And your point?" Snape asked darkly as his brow furrowed.

She could feel she was treading in dangerous waters but, continued recklessly. She didn't care that she was taking out her anger from earlier on him. "I just think if you took some time to finish and publish, several portions of study could be really useful to other researchers. Instead, you have all of these loose ends, which you can barely draw any conclusions from because they're incomplete. How do you ever expect to publish anything when you go about research in this manner? It's almost as if you don't have any respect for the other investigators in your field because you don't care enough to improve it."

"There are more important things in this world other than being published, like finding the truth for instance," He acknowledged trying really hard to keep control of his rising temper because he could see what was clearly happening. He could feel his knuckles turning white as the grip on his books became tighter and tighter.

"Unfortunately, the truth doesn't pay the bills. It merely leads to haphazard experimentation like the kind displayed in these notes," Hermione replied dryly.

"I'm certainly not a researcher for the money," Snape stated tersely looking at the clock in the kitchen. "I think we should get going if we want to make it to dinner before the food gets cold," he said trying to steer the conversation into safer territory as he walked towards the door.

"I question if you may fear Tobias Prince getting all of the credit for Severus Snape's work," Hermione quipped not taking the hint.

Unfortunately, that remark was the boiling point for Snape. Hermione could see him stop in his tracks, his back noticeably tense. He unceremoniously let all of his books drop to the floor with a loud thud that shook even the table and turned to her, his face holding a look of rage.

"Do not speak to me as if you know anything about me or my life. Your psychoanalysis would be much more endearing, really, if it weren't so covered in crap. Things are all sunshine and daisies until someone turns the tables on you, right? Well, how convenient that you can just walk away. Maybe you can afford me the same courtesy next time," Snape finished slightly out of breath, looking down at his books and notes that covered the floor.

Hermione just stood there in shock not having expected such a passionate response. Silence encompassed the room but, this time, instead of a comfortable quietness, it was laden with overwrought anxiousness. The two continued to stare at anywhere but each other. Snape was ashamed of how he had let his annoyance show so blatantly, while Hermione knew that she had instigated the entire event.

A knock at the door brought them both back to the living room. Hermione looked at the door and back at Snape double checking to make sure he wouldn't explode if she invited someone in.

"Come in," Hermione said. Snape found himself more irritated than usual with the fact that she never locked the door, but ignored deciding to pick up his scattered books so that he could leave as soon as possible.

Nathaniel stuck his head around into the apartment with a worried look on his face. He cautiously scanned the room to make sure everything was okay before speaking to Hermione. She watched him slightly perplexed because she was sure that neither of them had been yelling loud enough to be heard in the hallway before the knock.

"Mom said to tell you that dinner is being put on the table," Nathaniel said his voice soft and meek.

"Thanks Nathaniel. We'll be right over," Hermione replied gently and with a smile.

Nathaniel left shutting the door softly. Snape had finished picking up all of his strewn items when he stood looking towards Hermione. They stared at each other in another palpable silence, neither being sure of who should make the first move. A few seconds later Hermione made to get up, "I guess we should head over."

"Sounds good," Snape said as he started to make his way to the door with a mountain of books.

Hermione quickly joined him to help with the door. "I've got it, Miss. Jukofsky," Snape retorted to her assistance.

Hermione just smirked. "Nonsense, let me help you."

Snape glowered at her but, let her ahead of him so that she could turn the knob. He walked past her, without so much as a thank you, making his way to his apartment door. After dropping his things off, he met Hermione in the hallway so that they could walk over to Linda's together.

Hermione reached for the door knob pausing as she took a deep breath and turned towards Snape, "I'm sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have pushed you like I did and you were right." She whispered the last part and then pushed the door open before he could respond.

When they walked in, without knocking, Snape found himself immediately distracted by the vast commotion that could be going on in one room. Emily was chasing Ivan - he had said something about her friend being cute. Jacob was talking to his friend Taylor and they were trading some cards in hushed voices. Christine was bouncing a ball off of the corner of a wall that didn't have any pictures or furniture by it. Emily was finishing homework on the coffee table, and Nathaniel was staring blankly at Snape and Hermione. Linda was setting the table placing dinner on it like nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

Nathaniel ran forward and jumped up into Hermione's opened arms. "I'm sorry I interrupted your fight earlier," he said in a low voice.

"We weren't fighting," Hermione said as she hugged the boy tightly. "Did you hear us arguing?" she asked warily.

Hermione looked at Snape, who nodded in agreement. "I didn't have to hear you. I could _feel _you," Nathaniel said, as Hermione set him back down on the ground looking at him carefully.

"What do you mean you felt us arguing?" Hermione asked. Snape leaned down closer, so that he could hear the boy's reply through all of the noise around him.  
"I walked out into the hallway to tell you dinner was ready but, before I even got there, I knew that you were both angry. I could feel it. It shook the entire floor," Nathaniel explained timidly.

"Did anyone else feel it?" Snape asked.

"I don't think so," Nathaniel replied.

Hermione ruffled the boy's hair lightly giving him a bright smile, "Well everything is better now," she said, "so why don't you go get cleaned up for dinner?" Nathaniel smiled and ran off.

Snape gave Hermione a sour look. "There's more to this kid than meets the eye."

"He's confused," Hermione said, "another time, in another setting, we would probably be better at getting him to open up." Hermione turned away from Snape heading towards the kitchen and asking, "Linda, do you need any help?"

Snape looked back at the small boy and then towards Hermione. He felt irked at the sight of a strong, young wizard, who was going to miss the opportunity to be trained properly early on but, more so, about a certain strong witch with the proper training and lack of willingness to do anything about it.

"Mr. Prince, we're ready," Linda said as she motioned towards the empty chair beside Hermione. Snape nodded taking his usual seat. Moments later, all the children had taken their seats waiting for Linda to join them, so that they could say grace.

Once Linda was seated everyone extended their hands. Nathaniel took Snape's hand before he could fold them in his lap and Hermione politely waited for Snape to take her hand, which he did a second later. After joining hands, they said a quick prayer of thanksgiving and began to eat. The table suddenly burst into a chorus of voices asking for food to be passed every which way and the clinking of silverware. Hermione looked at Sarah's plate, which only had a few pieces of salad on it and a half scoop of black eyed beans.

"Sarah, is that all you're eating?" Hermione inquired.

"I had a big lunch," Sarah replied softly.

Hermione nodded giving Sarah a look that said she didn't quite believe her but, deciding to save the conversation for another day, until Jacob piped up and said, "Mary Mezinis, the most popular girl in school, said that Sarah was fat."

Sarah shot Jacob a nasty glare and then looked away from Hermione in shame. Hermione took a few seconds think of how to approach such a topic in front of so many people. In that moment, Emily joined in saying, "I don't know why you even listen to that girl. She's an idiot."

"That's funny coming from you, especially since she told you your feet were too big and so now you've started wearing smaller shoes," Sarah snapped back.

Hermione let her silverware fall onto her plate carelessly. "And you both listen to that little witch?" Hermione growled in annoyance.

Snape immediately looked at Nathaniel and noticed that the young boy was pale with fear. Snape had no problem feeling Hermione's exasperation boil, but if his guess was right, Nathaniel could probably feel the entire house shaking.

"It doesn't matter if it's true or not," Sarah piped up continuing the conversation. "The moment she said that about us, it became truth."

"She's nothing but a succubus out to make herself appear stronger by preying on the lives and beauty of other people who she feels threatened by," Hermione said her voice unyielding.

Snape reached up lightly touching her arm. A jolt of electricity traveled down his arm where it made contact with her skin. "Diana," he said cautiously, "It's not their fault and this really isn't the place or the time."

Hermione refocused on her meal but, she didn't cool off much. Snape continued to keep an eye on Nathaniel, who was very pale throughout the majority of the meal. The mood had been pretty well killed, so the rest of dinner was spent in silence.

After dinner, the kids gathered up all of the dishes and began washing them together without even being asked. Hermione stood to join them in the kitchen assuming the others to follow but, to her surprise, Snape leaned to Linda and murmured, "I'd like to ask you something."

"Sure. What is it, Tobias?" Linda asked curiously. Hermione stopped to listen intently.

"I think Nathaniel has a very natural, strong power as a wizard, and I would like to work with him a little bit to see if we can channel that energy," Snape explained. He then looked up at Hermione, "I would love for you to help me, if you can find the time."

Hermione just stared blankly at him for a few minutes before saying, "I can't promise anything, so once you work out the details and let me know." She headed into the kitchen to help the kids with the dishes. Snape and Linda continued to talk for the next couple of minutes about the kind of education that the children had been receiving, as well as what additional training Linda wanted them to be familiar with.

A few minutes later, all of the boys came out into the living room talking and laughing. Snape could see Hermione talking in hushed tones to the girls. Nathaniel walked over to Snape and crawled up into his lap uninvited and rested his head on Snape's shoulder. Snape froze, unfamiliar with this type of affection from a child. "Mr. Prince, promise me you and Miss Diana won't ever fight again."

Snape smiled lightly, as he slowly relaxed his posture, "We will do our best." Turning to Linda conversationally, "Diana is really great with your kids."

Linda smiled in agreement. "She is. I'm blessed to have her around but, she's not the only one who's good with kids," Linda nodded her head towards Nathaniel, who contentedly sitting in Snape's arm.

Hermione and the girls walked in a few minutes later. Sarah and Emily joined the others, who were all sitting around talking, while Hermione looked at Snape closely.

He watched her intently beginning to feel a little bit uneasy about the look in her eyes. It was an emotion that he had never seen before - nostalgic, amused, sad and extremely distant all at once.

"What is it, Diana?" Linda asked as she noticed the same thing.

Hermione shook her head as her eyes focused on Linda, "It's nothing. I was just thinking."

"Diana, can you come by tomorrow after school?" Sarah asked.

"Sure, why?" Hermione asked as she sat down amid the group of children.

"Because I have to do a portrait for my English class. It's a big project and I wanted to draw you," Sarah explained.

Hermione shrugged, "I guess so as long as Mr. Prince lets me have a few hours away from his projects."

Sarah leaned over to Hermione and gave her a brief hug, "Thank you."

Christine ran over to Hermione and kneeled beside her, "Diana, can you tell us a story?" She pleaded with big eyes.

"Ummm," Hermione groaned. "I'm really not in a storytelling mood, kiddo. Maybe Mr. Prince can be of service."

Christine turned to Snape, "Mr. Prince, will you tell us a story?" The others chimed in pleading with excitement. Linda piped in as well, while Hermione threw her head back in laughter.

"I'm not very good at telling stories," Snape said uncomfortably as he looked at all the kids with their eager faces. "Maybe you could tell me one of your stories and I'll see if I can come up with anything from them."

Snape looked over at Hermione, who mouthed something that looked like _that's cheap_, but he decided to ignore her motioning for the kids to begin.

"But there are so many," Nathaniel said.

"Well, how about you all tell him your one favorite story. Just remember to keep it short," Linda offered.

All the kids agreed, "We'll start with the youngest," Sarah offered.

Christine smiled brightly, "I know which one's my favorite."

"Everyone has three minutes and I'm going to be timing you," Hermione said as she took off her watch, so she could get a better look at it.

Jacob and Ivan slid the coffee table out of the middle of the living room and the six kids sat in a circle. Christine stayed in Linda's lap, while Sarah and Ivan scrambled for the seat next to her. The two ended up squeezing together, both of them stubborn enough to stay in the same spot, despite the uncomfortable position. Emily and Jacob sat on the floor and Nathaniel stayed happily on Snape's knee.

"Alright Christine, I'm ready whenever you are," Hermione said as she looked at the little girl. Christine nodded that she was ready, took a deep breath, and began.

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AN: Hang in there! This next chapter is my favorite. If you can find it in your heart to share your thoughts. Other wise enjoy and I hope you have enjoyed it so far. I'm going to assume you did since you are still here.


	8. In a Life Already Shared

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter universe. I just borrow shamelessly.

* * *

Christine began her story in a clear and childish, albeit fast voice:

_Once upon a time, The King of the Castle was hosting a dance and everyone in the castle was going to go. Everyone was happy, except The Bright Princess. She wanted to do homework, but her best friends, The Fiery Prince and The Lightning Wizard, had both convinced her to go since after that one she would be all done with school._  
_At the ball a lot of boys asked her to dance and she did, but they were all silly and she got bored and goed outside to get some fresh air._

_After a while, she headed back inside, but as she was about to walk up the stairs, she heard something farther down the hallway. It sounded like someone was sick._  
_The Princess ran until she came to a very dark hallway. She lit the way with magic and saw a black lump on the floor. She ran over to it because she was brave. She moved the cloth that covered his face. It was The Dark Prince of Snakes. He was hurt and looked like he was going to die. The Princess magically lifted him and ran to the hospital laying him on a bed. Then, she called for The King, who brought the doctor. When the doctor came, she put The Princess to work. They worked all night until The Prince wasn't going to die. _

Christine took and deep breathe and looked around the room. It was silent. She looked up at Hermione and asked, "Was that good?"

Hermione smiled uncomfortably, "That was wonderful." Looking at Snape, she blushed slightly and turned her gaze to the child in his arms saying, "Nathaniel, are you ready?"

He nodded. "Just start whenever you're ready," Hermione said as she glanced at her watch and waited patiently.

Nathaniel nodded, took a deep breath and began:

_One night The Lord of Wolves was fighting with The King of the castle. The Lightning Wizard wanted to help. He sided with The King which made The Lord mad. He yelled and threw things. On his way out of the room, he ran into The Dark Prince. The Prince asked him what was wrong and The Lord punched him so hard he fell on the floor._

_The Dark Prince was very angry. He asked what could be making The Lord so mad and went to talk to him. The Lord got mad at him again and started yelling, so this time The Prince punched The Lord of Wolves so hard that _he_ fell on the ground and in the end both of the men didn't feel any better _and_ they both had sore cheeks. _

Nathaniel finished and the entire room was speechless.

Finally Hermione asked, "Nathaniel, why is that your favorite?"

"Because The Lord of Wolves got to punch The Dark Prince in the face," Nathaniel replied.

"But The Dark Prince punched him back," Ivan interjected.

"Yeah, but The Lord of Wolves got him first," Nathaniel smiled brightly.

"You always did like The Lord of Wolves better," Emily said.

"I think he's cool. Don't you think he's cool, Mr. Prince?" Nathaniel looked up at Snape with a big smile and waited for his response. Hermione was beside herself trying not to laugh out loud, as she doubled over to suppress her snort.

"Well, I'm not condoning violence, but I bet he's the kind of guy that can see things sensibly if he kept his emotions in check," Snape replied.

"How would you have handled it if you were The Dark Prince?" Linda asked.

"I imagine that I would have stated my case and left him to make his own decisions," Snape replied.

"Even if he insulted you mother?" Jacob probed.

Snape had to think twice about the question.

"Especially if he had insulted my mother. My mother raised me better than to pick fights. I'm not going to dishonor her over some idiot looking to let his anger out on the first sap to catch the bait," he said sternly.

"Miss Diana said something along those lines too," Sarah said.

"Well, Miss Diana is a smart lady. You should listen to her," Snape replied confidently.

There was a low wave of mumbles around the room as the kids lowly stated whether or not the agreed. Hermione smirked and nodded for Jacob to tell his favorite story. He thought for a little bit before nodding to Hermione that he was ready to begin.

_It had been told that The Lightning Wizard was the only one who could beat The Dark Lord. He had been preparing for months. When the day finally came, The Dark Lord made a rush on the school. The Lightning Wizard and his friends stood in the Great Hall biding their time. The Bright Princess handed The Lightning Wizard and The Fiery Prince a vial with a potion that she had made earlier to help them in the battle. "Princess, why aren't you taking any?" The Fiery Prince asked her._

_"We only need so many lucky people, at some point you have to rely on skill," The Princess explained. At that moment, there was an explosion outside - the fighting had begun. The three waited inside the castle. It didn't take long for the fighting to move inside. The Great Hall became a mess. The Lightning Wizard moved quickly through the castle. Hardly anyone was able to slow him down while The Fiery Prince remained close to him as the potion, which The Bright Princess had given them, made them lucky and almost invincible. The Princess however remained behind and watched their backs. _

_The battle became fierce and The Lightning Wizard began moving away from the main mesh of spells towards the direction of The Dark Lord. Things began moving quickly. The wizard knew what he had to do. Across the lawn, he saw The Dark Lord watching with his glowing red eyes and he headed towards him._

_In a few moments, The Lightning Wizard stood before The Dark Lord. The Dark Lord laughed as he looked at the young boy. The Lightning Wizard raised his arm to cast a spell, but one of The Dark Lord's followers cast a spell first. The Dark Prince of Snakes jumped from out of nowhere and tackled The Lightning Wizard away from danger. The Lightning Wizard stood up quickly but, before he could form another attack, The Dark Lord raised his wand and cast the killing curse. The wand he had was neither his nor had he earned it and as a result, the spell bounced back and killed him instead. _

Jacob looked around as he finished and said shortly, "the end."

Everyone applauded and Jacob smiled brightly. "I didn't know how much time I had, so I decided to stop there," he said sheepishly.

"It's a good thing you did because you were cutting it close," Hermione stated as she checked the watch that she hadn't even been looking at.

Snape smirked before asking, "What kind of potion did she give them?"

Emily opened her mouth to say something, but Ivan jumped up enthusiastically saying, "I want to tell that story!"

"Then go for it," Linda said playfully as she sat back with Christine, who was beginning to fall asleep.

Ivan took a few moments to gather his thoughts and then began:

_The battle between Light and Dark was drawing closer. So close that it was the only thing the three friends could talk about when they were together. The Bright Princess spent most of her time reading, trying to get together a plan, while The Lightning Wizard and The Fiery Prince trained constantly in the Room of Requirements. One day, the three of them were training together when The Fiery Prince said, 'What we need is a good bit of luck.'_

_There was a long silence as the two boys mulled it over. The Princess never looked up from her reading. It wasn't until she felt someone staring at her that she stopped reading and realized that both boys were looking at her with a devilish gleam in their eyes. "No," The Princess said sternly. "Whatever you're thinking— it's a bad idea."_

_"But Princess, imagine what we could do with a bit of luck," The Fiery Prince said trying to persuade her._

_"No," The Princess said firmly._

_They continued to train while both boys continued to hassle her, pointing out the perks to having luck as well as skill, making the argument that many important things in history happened because of luck. Finally, The Princess agreed reluctantly, leaving the room slightly flustered to go find out what she could about the potion that they wanted._

_The Prince and The Wizard continued training, agreeing that since The Princess was going to be working extra hours on this potion, then they were going to have to work extra hard in their own. A few days later, The Princess began work on the potion and The Wizard and The Prince went in to check on her from time to time and to bring her food, since it was a long and tedious process._

_One of the days on their way to visit her, they were stopped in the hallway by The Dark Prince of Snakes._

_"Where are you boys headed on this fine evening?" he asked_

_"Astronomy tower," The Lightning Wizard said._

_"Owlery," The Fiery Prince replied at the same time._

_The Dark Prince eyed them cautiously, "So which is it?"_

_"Both," they said together._

_"There are some potion ingredients missing from my private stores - a large amount actually. You two wouldn't happen to know where they went, would you?" The Dark Prince asked with narrowed eyes._

_"What would we do with potion ingredients?" The Fiery prince asked._

_"'Good point," he said apprehensively. "Where is your other friend? The Bright Princess?" The Dark Prince asked._

_They both shrugged. "Did you check the library?" The Lightning Wizard asked._

_"YOU DON'T BREW POTIONS IN THE LIBRARY!" The Dark Prince yelled. Suddenly, he pulled out his wand and pushed them both into a small dark room. "Now tell me where she is, because judging from the ingredients missing she could get seriously hurt if anything goes slightly wrong."_

_After a few moments, The Fiery Prince was able to muster up some strength to straighten up slightly before saying, "First off, we have no idea what you are talking about. __Secondly, I'm sure she wouldn't be so irresponsible as to brew a potion without supervision that could be dangerous to herself or to others."_

_The Dark Prince didn't say anything else. He just stormed off in a fury of robes that left the two boys shaken to their core._

_After that encounter, the boys decided not to visit The Princess while she was working and waited until they saw her in the Common Room, but no one saw her for the rest of the weekend. It wasn't until their first class together, on that Tuesday, that they saw her. She told them that everything went well and would be ready by the end of the week._

_A few days later the final battle came to the castle. The Princess handed out the Felix Felicis and the battle began._

Ivan finished and smirked. Everyone applauded as he stood up and took his seat. Emily smiled sweetly at Ivan, who fidgeted in his chair. He recognized his sisters need to one up him.

Emily sat back in the chair and said, "I'm going to tell the same story, but from a different point of view."

"Ms. Jukofsky only ever told us that part." Ivan said defensively, "and I didn't realize that we were allowed to make stuff up."

"I'm not making anything up. Sarah and I had lunch with her one day and we asked her to tell us a story that we hadn't heard before. She told us this same one, but from The Princess's point of view" Emily sweetly replied.

"You guys didn't like my story because you all want The Dark Prince to be a good guy," Ivan pouted.

Christine shot up in Linda's arms saying, "He is a good guy!"

"You don't know that," Ivan replied.

"You don't know either," Sarah said ending the conversation. "Emily, why don't you go ahead and tell your favorite story now."

Emily nodded and after a deep breath she began:

_As the boys were trying to convince her to make the potion, The Princess found that the more they talked about it, the more she disliked the idea of making it. She realized that the boys were becoming reliant on this plan of having this potion. She knew that if she made it they could take advantage of it and use too much. Yet, after a lot of pestering she reluctantly agreed. She spent the next couple of days in the library researching the potion - Felix Felicis, and preparing The Room of Requirements for the work to follow._

_The potion was tricky in that it needed constant supervision. So, The Princess did the only thing she knew to do in these circumstances— she went into her dresser and pulled out an old silver hour glass that hung on a thin chain. In the Room of Requirements, she drew out a schedule for sleeping, eating, and attending classes, as well as gathering everything she would need for the potion._

_As The Princess looked over her list of potions, she found herself in a difficult situation. The list of ingredients was long and very specific and she wasn't sure if she could get everything she needed from the local store. This meant she had to borrow some and there was only one person who would have what she needed: The Dark Prince. The Princess gathered her courage to do what was necessary in order to complete the potion. She broke into his private office knowing fully well that she would not get caught because he was going to be gone for a long period of time. _

_After gathering everything she needed, she carefully carried them back to The Room of Requirements. Once everything was in place, she had a soft alarm set up, so that she wouldn't be startled when the boys came and visited her. That's how she began the tedious 5-day process of making the potion._

_Things ran smoothly throughout the entire process. The Princess used the Time-Turner to be able to sleep, while the potion was brewing perfectly. Finally, the potion was almost complete. The Princess added the last three drops of armadillo bile and set the timer for an hour. She set a shield over the simmering cauldron and began cleaning up and properly disposing of all of the left over potion ingredients._

_The Princess took out the bottles that she was going to use to hold and distribute the potion, setting them neatly on a table beside the cauldron. A few minutes later the alarm beeped softly. She checked the time, but was surprised that it might be The Wizard or The Prince, since they were supposed to be in Transfigurations with her right now._

_A minute later the door flew open and a very livid Dark Prince stormed in. The Princess was surprised he had found her, but her surprise quickly dissipated. It turned to fear as The Dark Prince yelled at her and grabbed her roughly by the arm. She could feel him shaking with anger or maybe she was the one shaking with fear._

_"This isn't some kind of game. I am going to have you expelled. You stole from a teacher! You didn't care if I noticed my private potion ingredients were missing. I could…' but he suddenly trailed off when he looked at the potion. His eyes stared widely at the golden sheen of the liquid. "You fool," he hissed. "Take the shield off," he growled._

_The Princess did as he said and the two watched while large drops leaped like goldfish above the surface without spilling. "Whose idea was it?' The Dark Prince asked his voice was so cold The Princess was sure she felt the temperature in the room drop several degrees._

_"Mine, sir," she replied meekly._

_"I know that's a lie. Tell me, whose idea was this?"_

_"Mine," she said, this time with a little more force and conviction._

_"I don't even know why I'm asking you. I know whose idea it was. Either way, it doesn't matter because I'm going to get rid of it," he said picking up some of the armadillo bile that was left over. He raised his hand to throw it in, but suddenly stopped mid-air. "Was this the last thing you put in?" he asked._

_"Yes," The Princess replied._

_"The potion is wrong," he stated looking again at the perfect sheen and the way that it reacted with air._

_"That would be a correct observation, sir," The Princess stood back now realizing that he was interested enough to hear her out and that he wasn't going to be destroying all of her hard work just yet._

_"'What is it and how did you make it?" The Dark Prince asked leaning against the table showing that he was willing to listen._

_"Basically, it's just a wit-sharpening potion, but it's made the same way as the Felix Felicis. The only difference is that you add different magical charms that sooth the volatile nature of the ingredients. Instead of making you lucky, they just help you see things more clearly. It's not as potent, so you can't overdose on a vile, like you could with the Felix Felicis." The Princess went over to a chair in the corner, picking up the notebook that she had been keeping throughout the process. "You're more than welcome to look over my notes," she said offering him her notebook._

_The Dark Prince took the notebook, making a copy of it and then handed her back the original. "I'm going to let this slide, but if we both survive this war you will spend the rest of your school career in detention." The End._

Every one applauded, including Ivan. Emily had always been an exceptional story teller and the kids were always happy to hear a new story.

"Sarah, what story are you going to tell?" Nathaniel asked.

"I'm going to tell the story about the time that The Princess left everything behind," Sarah answered.

"Why?" Jacob asked.

"Because I like it. Plus, we're telling stories so that Mr. Prince can make one up and I want to hear a story about what happened after the battle," Sarah explained.

Looking around to make sure she had everyone's attention, in a sure and strong voice she began:

_Once The Princess had gotten out of the hospital, taken and passed her NEWTs, she found herself bored with the prestige of being a war hero. She wanted to get out and see the world. Many of her friends were sad that she wanted to leave and tried to convince her to stay. However, all she wanted to do was spend some time away from all of the fame, so that she could get to know who she was apart from her two famous best friends._

_She packed her things and emptied her bank account, in order to go explore the world. As she was leaving the castle, where she had spent the last seven years of her life, she ran into The Dark Prince._

_"So, I hear you're running away, Princess?" he asked her as he escorted her to the train station by request of The Queen of the castle._

_The Princess sighed deeply. "After the year we've had, we should all have the right to run away to start a new life separate from spies and war and training." She was glad The Dark Prince was with her, because he still scared people enough that they wouldn't approach her in an effort to avoid talking to him._

_"Yes, but your Order of Merlin First Class can advance you pretty far in life while you're here. " The Prince said coldly._

_"It's a blood medal. I wish I hadn't received it at all. I hate it. I hate the idea. I hate what it represents. I survived. I dodged spells that probably hit others, and somehow that makes me a hero?" The Princess glared at the ground. The medal was in her bag, where The Lightning Wizard had put it earlier that day. She refused to touch it, so she planned on leaving it there._

_The two walked silently for the rest of the trip. Once they were at the station, The Princess had loaded her bags when The Prince finally spoke up. "I still owe you a life debt. I don't like being in debt to anyone," he said._

_"'You would have survived that spell," The Princess said softly disregarding the idea that he owed her something._

_"Still, I would rather you not leave without letting me paying you back," The Prince replied._

_The Princess thought for a moment. "If you want to pay me back, then let me go. Don't try to convince me to stay." _

_The Prince started to say something, but stopped mid-sentence. The Princess barreled on, "If you feel like you have to do something to make it up to me just forget about it. Move on with your life. Do what you love. Live, for what I imagine could be one of the first time in your whole life." _

_The Prince smirked - the closest he ever came to a smile. "Live a good life, Princess," he said and then turned, leaving The Princess standing alone on the platform. The _

_Princess smiled as she watched him leave. She boarded the train and left never to return to the castle—once her home—again._

There was a round of applause and Sarah. "What about her family?" Snape asked.

"She sent them away during the war. When she went back to get them, they decided that they liked Australia and wanted to stay," Ivan said.

"Oh, I see," Snape replied. "And after the battle, what happened to the Dark Prince of Snakes before he was walking her to the train?"

"He was arrested after he left the hospital," Nathaniel explained and realization began to settle into the other children's eyes.

"And we don't know what happened after that and how he go to the train station," Sarah explained.

"Hmmm, then maybe I can try and fill in the gaps let me think if I can com up with something interesting." He took a few moments to compose his thoughts. "Alright," Snape said. The kids scooted forward in their chairs to get a close as possible.

_The Dark Prince of Snakes found himself in a tight spot after the Battle. Though he had only been following the orders of the King of the Castle, he was still being charged with acting as a spy against the Light Side and espionage. The courtroom had been in an uproar from the moment The Dark Prince was escorted to the chained chair. The room was filled with witches and Wizards waiting to see if he would be freed _again_. _

_From the midst of the commotion, a tall, thin ministry witch stood, clearing her throat. The room went quiet. "Dark Prince of Snakes, you have been accused of aiding and abetting The Dark Lord in a hostile take over of the Ministry, treason in the form of espionage, and first and second degree murder. How do you plead?"_

_The Prince sat in the middle of the circular room, as his peers looked down on him. Though he couldn't see their faces, he could feel their accusatory stares searing through his robes. Everyone was curious as to what he would say, seeing as he was very much alone in this battle, not willing to let anyone else get involved in the mess that he had created. It was a path he had chosen to follow many years ago, despite possible repercussions. Snape let out a deep breath as he finally stood tall to face his accusers, "Guilty."_

_The room erupted into hysterics again as The Queen of the Castle quickly stood up. "With all due respect to the Wizengamont," she announced, her voice carrying over the chatter, "I do not believe that is actually what is in question here."_

_The tall witch, who first spoke, looked around at the uncomfortable faces of her colleagues but, plowed on instead, "We believe that there is enough evidence here to doubt his loyalty either way. All we can do is make him stand trial for what he has done. We have eye witness accounts of his murder of The King of the Castle and he has been charged as an accessory to murder in at lease ten other cases."_

"_Ten other cases that have no more proof of his involvement as we have proof of your own," The Queen argued._

"_Are you accusing me of slaying innocent people," The woman's voice raised an octave, as she snapped defensively at The Queen's insinuation._

"_No, I'm simply saying that the only death on trial here is that of The King of the Castle. Substantial evidence has been provided to show that he entrusted The Prince to end his life, in order to save the innocence of one of his students. The King was dying long before the Prince even raised his wand against him," she continued._

"_Your point of view has been noted, however that is not the opinion of this court. We do not judge based on what you would like, ma'am," she woman said snidely to the Queen._

"_Clearly, you're looking for a scape goat. There is nothing fair about this trial." The Queen snarled back. _

_The witch leading the trial was taken aback. Turning red in the face, she focused her flustered attention back to The Prince. "Dark Prince of Snakes, did you kill The King of the Castle?"_

_The Queen leaned forward pleading with him, "Prince, don't answer that question. You have done your penance. You have suffered enough."_

_The Prince's eyes remained despondent, as he responded to the members of the Wizengamont, "Yes."_

_The woman's eyes flashed victoriously, "Then I would suggest there is nothing more for us to discuss here." She turned to the mediator and Minister of Magic, an old friend of the Prince and The King of the Castle, who was struggling to not interrupt. "I believe we are ready for you to close this hearing, Minister."_

_The Minister shook his head, sadly looking at The Prince. He couldn't help him if he wasn't going to help himself, "Does the defendant have anything he would like the court to take into consideration before we close this hearing?" The Prince shook his head in defeat. The Minister turned back to the group of magistrates to close the hearing but, stopped short when he heard the door burst open in the back of the room._

_He turned, watching as The Bright Princess blasted into the room, her hair a mess and arms filled with a large stack of papers and files. She walked straight passed The Dark Prince and directly to the woman who had been leading the inquiry. She handed her a file and whispered something in her ear. The woman immediately flipped through the pages. Enraged, she took out her wand and burned the entire folder as everyone else looked on perplexed._

_The Bright Princess then walked over to The Dark Prince, handing him a very similar file to the one she had just handed the woman. Turning to address the woman, she said, "These are the originals. I'm going to let The Dark Prince hang on to them if you don't mind. I guess the next order of business is to ask if you have anything to add to the closing statement," The Bright Princess directed her inquiry towards the ruffled woman in front of her, who was wiping her robes clean of the ash from the papers._

_The tall, blonde witch snarled, as The Dark Prince thumbed through the files. "I would like to recant my stance on the matter," she said, looking like she had swallowed a lemon. "I believe that the situation was less murky than we had originally thought. While The Dark Prince did use The Killing Curse on The King of the Castle, it must have been at the Kings insistence, for he was the greatest wizard ever to live."_

_The Minister nodded, "All those who say guilty." Several hands went up in the air, however, not enough to convict. The Minister banged his gavel on the podium and announced, "Dark Prince, you have been cleared of all charges and are free to go."_

_The Dark Prince stood perfectly still, unable to believe his ears. The Queen of the Castle practically jumped over the railing to embraced him. "I know you hate this but, I just had to let you know how happy I am for you,"she said after she let him go. The Prince adjusted his robes and nodded his understanding. As the two walked out of the court room, The Bright Princess ran by, her hair was just as messy but, her pile of papers substantially smaller. She smiled politely to the two of them and he nodded in return. The Queen looked at the stack of papers in his hands._

"_What was the folder that The Bright Princess gave you?" she asked curious about the complete change in the court's atmosphere once it had shown up._

_The Prince looked at it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "Blackmail."_

"_What!" The Queen snapped. "Why did she give it to _you_?"_

"_Because, if she had given it to The Minister, he would have had to declare a mistrial and we would have to go through all of this again," He explained. Secretly, he was kind of proud at The Bright Princess's thought process._

_The Queen of the Castle demanded that The Prince come back to the Castle, even if he wasn't going to teach. It would give him some time to gather his things and decide on his next step. The last thing he did before he left the castle forever, was to walk The Bright Princess to the train at the request of the Queen. The End._

"No!" Emily protested. "Now they are both gone and we have no idea where they went."

Snape smirked mischievously, "From what I know about The Prince, I don't think he would be interested in hanging around for all of the After War Parties."

"Yes but, where is he going?" Ivan asked with frustration equal to his sister's.

"I'm not sure. I don't really know enough about his character to make a decision like that. Do you have a preference on where you would like The Prince to go?" Snape asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes but, that didn't stop the kids from offering up their own ideas, "Rome! Greece! Africa!"

Christine tugged lightly on Hermione's sleeve, "Diana, can The Prince move to Bosnia?"

Hermione chuckled, patting Christine lightly on the head, "I guess we'll have to see where the story takes us but, for now I think it's time to go to bed and dream up your own stories."

"I agree it's way past your bed time for a school night," Linda said.

There was a large chorus of groans, as all of the kids shuffled their feet towards their rooms. Hermione and Snape stood with them. Non-verbally stating they were going to head out as well. "Well, that was a lot of fun. Thanks for coming over," Linda said as she gave each of them a hug. Snape stiffened slightly, as he patted the small woman on the back until she let go. Hermione and Snape walked out, heading to their respective apartments.

"I'd like to hear what happened to The Princess after The Prince left her at the station," Snape said, as he stopped at his door staring at the ground and Hermione continued to her own.

"One day," Hermione said, as she began unlocking the door.

"Why not now, while we're both in a storytelling mood?" It was hard for Hermione to place his mood at this moment. She couldn't tell whether he was joking or being serious.

"Mainly, because I'm exhausted. It's not every day all of your secrets are revealed to the strange man who moved in next door." Hermione responded as she leaned against the door.

"What are you talking about? They're just stories, right?" Snape asked rhetorically with a wicked smirk on his face. Hermione simply smiled lightly and shook her head.

"So, tomorrow morning, then?" Snape asked out of habit.

"I have to actually go in to work for a few hours but, come over after and I'll see how much more time I need to finish your notebooks," Hermione said as she opened the door to walk inside.

"We'll work something out," Snape replied.

Hermione nodded in agreement and the two walked into their respective apartments. Both were thinking that this night was one of the strangest that they had experienced in a long time.

* * *

AN: I would like to take this point to say that catchhouse21 does not beta my Authors Notes or disclaimers. So please don't think that she just peters out and ignores these. I just assume put them up after everything so that I can have something to break up the formating monotony. Thank you for reading please continue.


	9. In a Secret Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter universe. I just borrow shamelessly.

* * *

Hermione went straight to bed, but her mind kept running, wanting to stay awake to go over everything that she had absorbed today: Snape's facial expressions and his reactions to stories that were passed as fairy tales, but he knew were real, and then his story. He had basically thanked her for saving him from Azkaban in the form of a story. Was this what it was going to be like - telling the kids stories as a form of communication between them?

She suddenly felt very cold. There was a very real possibility that this elaborate web of lies could fall through. She had always known she could keep her secret but, she felt like the additional weight of her old professor might be more than her web could handle, or maybe it was just more than she could handle.

Hermione pulled the blankets up to her chin, setting her alarm for five in the morning. After a few fitful moments, she managed to fall asleep and, for the first time in months, she dreamed of Hogwarts and her black haired professor.

In the next apartment, Snape was on the same line of thought. He couldn't figure out why he had told that story. He had been tempted to make something up that would annoy Hermione, knowing that the majority, if not all, of her stories were completely true. It would make things difficult for her to patch things up but, he realized that, just as she had done, his safest bet was sticking to a story he knew. As much as he tried to come up with a story that would make the dynamic duo look moronic, all he could think about was that day in the court room.

The look on her face, when she had realized where the story was going, was so masked he could have mistaken her for a well-trained Slytherin but, the look was there - realization, confusion, and embarrassment played subtly over her features. They all flashed across her eyes, like a movie on fast forward.

Snape pulled his blanket up to his chin and growled lowly to himself. Just as he was about to turn off the light with his wand, his eyes shot over to the wall of notebooks. He could see buried in between books and other references, the tiny thin notebook she had used for her modified Felix Felicis Potion. He hadn't ever taken the time to look through it but, he had also never thrown it away. "The day just keeps getting worse," he muttered to himself, as he closed his eyes so that sleep could overtake him.

The next morning, Hermione woke up and did everything as if the last week hadn't happened. She went on her morning jog and spent a few extra minutes at the market buying food to restock her bare refrigerator. She walked back and, upon arrival, unloaded the food into the refrigerator. She readied her work for the day and headed over to Linda's house to help her get the kids to school.

She showed up to the normal chaos of a house with six kids all trying to do the same things at once. Ivan, who had been getting up from the table after finishing some last minute homework, saw her, sat back down, and began erasing furiously so as to avoid rewrites later.

Hermione took a spot at the kitchen counter, where the kids' lunches were half finished. She quickly took note of what was out and began packing what was left. In each bag a sandwich, apple, bag of chips and bottle of water was inside. She folded each one neatly and was about to head to the back to see if Linda needed any help with the younger ones but, was stopped in mid-stride as she heard a familiar deep voice coming through the back room. She paused outside of the door, listening as Snape tried to calm the young boy.

"Now, tell me again. Why were you punching the wall?" Snape asked in a reassuring voice that she had never heard him use before. She could tell that he was trying to be as comforting as possible when speaking to Nathaniel.

"Because I'm practicing," Nathaniel explained simply.

"Practicing punching? Why not practice on a pillow or perhaps on something that won't be damaged once you're done," Snape continued his calm inquiry.

"Because a pillow isn't as hard as Hank Black. I want to make sure he feels it when I let him have it," Nathaniel explained.

"Why do you want to punch Hank?" Snape asked.

"He picks on me, calls me names, messes with my friends, and makes fun of my family," Nathaniel responded, as if that were reason enough to beat Hank's face to a pulp.

"I really feel like we should reevaluate this situation before your mom has to leave work this afternoon to bust you out of the principal's office," Snape explained. "And even if you did get a good beating in on him, I doubt it would make you happy at the end of the day."

"No, I would be expelled because Hank's mother is the teacher and she favors him," Nathaniel explained.

It was at this point that Hermione pushed herself off the wall, heading towards Linda's voice down the hall and trusting that Snape had everything under control.

Linda was in the room with the two older boys, filling out some paperwork for school. Hermione strolled in, setting to work on Ivan and Jacob, both of whom were dressed in the latest fashions of their school uniform, and still looking slightly disheveled with their crazy hair. Hermione didn't need to say anything for them to know exactly what she was thinking. Both boys looked at each other and sighed as they took their hair brushes to comb out their messy locks.

Hermione walked into the main area and all of the kids were getting out their agenda books that the teachers signed with their homework listed. She made sure that they all had their assignments done and that it was in neat, legible handwriting. While doing so, she leaned over to Linda, asking, "What is Mr. Prince doing here?" Hermione kept a conversational tone, as she handed out the kid's lunches, checking the time.

"He heard pounding on the adjoining wall this morning, so he came over to figure out where it was coming from. Apparently, Nathaniel was punching the wall. I've been giving them a little man to man time before I ground him for life." Linda explained, turning her attention to the other children. "Alright guys, it's time to leave for school," Linda said loud enough for Snape to hear her in the backroom. Snape and Nathaniel walked out on cue. Linda packed Nathaniel's lunch in his bag, smiling lightly at the two.

"I trust everything was taken care of," she glanced at Snape and then directly at Nathaniel.

"Hank Black lives to see another day," Nathaniel said cryptically. Linda had a confused look on her face, as Nathaniel grabbed his back pack, heading to the stand by the door of the apartment with his siblings.

Linda turned her gaze back to Snape, who reassured her, "He'll be fine."

"Linda, do you want me to walk them to school, so you can have a break before Christine wakes up?" Hermione offered just in time to allow Snape to escape Linda's interrogative gaze.

"Oh Diana, I would really appreciate that," Linda readily agreed.

Hermione didn't mind walking the kids to school, since their schools were on her way to work. Meeting the kids at the door, Hermione looked at Nathaniel who appeared slightly down trodden. He kept glancing back at Snape and then back at the floor, as though he might say something to Hermione about what they had talked about in private. The rest of the horde began to walk outside but, Hermione realized that Nathaniel had not moved.

"Nathaniel, are you coming?" Hermione asked the young boy.

"Only if Mr. Prince promises to walk me to school," Nathaniel said in a low voice. Hermione wasn't sure what to say.

She looked up at Snape, who looked equally surprised, and turned to the small boy looking for a way to let him down gently. "Nathaniel, I think - " Hermione started but, was cut off mid-sentence.

"Sure. I could certainly use the exercise," Snape told him without even looking at Hermione for approval.

Hermione held the door open for them until Snape reached the door, grabbing it so that she could go on ahead of him. Both adults and all five kids trampled down the stairs on their way down the stairs. Snape noticed that they had started gathering more kids as they continued their walk, and by the time they were on the bottom floor there were six additional children, totalling 11. Hermione noticed his confusion and fell back a few steps, so that she could be next to him.

"The two girls are Jenny and Jasmine. The older boy, flirting with Emily, is Jeremy, he's also good friends with Ivan. Then there's Taylor," Hermione said, pointing to the blonde boy who had been talking to Jacob. "And these two," Hermione motioned to the two younger kids, who had just shown up and were sticking close to Nathaniel, "are Jackie and Fred." The two smaller ones looked up at Snape smiling brightly.

"This is the Mr. Prince I was telling you about," Nathaniel told them. The other two children's eyes lit up with realization.

"I hope you didn't tell them about my exceptional board game skills," Snape said in a falsely secretive tone, as he looked at the small kids with a face of mixed emotions.

"No, just that you were really cool and that you were going to keep that awful bully, Hank, away from us," Nathaniel said.

"I said I would walk you to school, not be your personal bodyguard," Snape explained but, this didn't deter the younger ones.

"Don't worry, you don't have to do anything. If people just see us with a big scary guy, like you, it's enough to get them to leave us alone. Besides, the only reason he picks on us is because we don't have a dad to defend us," Fred explained.

Snape turned to Hermione, being caught off guard by the Fred's remark, looking for help but, she was far too amused to offer him any advice. She merely gave him a shrug that clearly said _You're on your own._ Having regained his composure, Snape said, "I wouldn't suggest lying to him but, I also don't mind walking you guys up to the door, until he finds a different reason to pick on you because I can assure you that he will."

Hermione elbowed him hard in the rib cage, knocking the wind out of him, and gave him a stern glare. Snape countered with a hot scowl of his own. Hermione held his gaze without fear, leaving the three young kids standing around them slightly confused.

The troupe headed out of the apartment building and into the streets, where the four older girls lead the way towards the school. All of them were talking amongst themselves and occasionally asking Hermione or Snape to verify an argument that they were having. Arriving at the school, the older kids headed off towards one building, while the rest headed off towards another.

Sarah turned around, looking at Hermione, before breaking off to go to her classroom, "Remember you promised to help me with a project after school today."

"I'll be there," Hermione assured her.

The youngest three stayed by Hermione and Snape. Hermione motioned for Snape to follow her, as she started towards the back of the largest building, where the preschoolers were taken to their classes. Nathaniel took Snape's hand and he reflexively squeezed back, while Jasmine and Fred took both of Hermione's and together the five walked towards the short building in back.

Hermione glanced at Snape from time to time, seeing how, with each step, he seemed more and more comfortable. He obviously liked Linda's kids - he was still living in the same apartment after all - and when he smiled towards them there was nothing fake or stiff. He just seemed to genuinely be enjoying their company. If nothing else before had convinced Hermione that he had changed, this did. This was a Severs Snape, who had reconciled his past and was free to move forward. Hermione felt her heart ache for that freedom as well.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the entrance to a gated building. Hermione opened the gate, leading the others inside. Snape followed close behind, closing the gate but, never once letting go of Nathaniel's hand. The five approached the front door, where a short, jovial woman was standing with a bright smile. A young boy, who looked far too big for his age group, stepped out from behind her, eyeing them carefully. Nathaniel's grip tightened on Snape's hand and he immediately made the connection that this was Hank Black.

"Well, hello Diana. How are you this morning?" The woman asked with a smile indicating that she may have had too much coffee this morning. Snape couldn't help but be reminded of Deloris Umbridge, except this woman was dressed in more sensible colors and seemed to lack the cat fetish.

"I'm fine, Mary. How are you?" Hermione replied in a falsely sweet tone that Snape knew she was putting on to seem cordial.

"I'm great. Who is this? I don't believe we've met," Mary extended her hand to Snape. "I'm Mary Black."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Black. I'm Tobias Prince," Snape offered his hand and shook hers firmly, never breaking eye contact.

"Will you be picking me up today?" Nathaniel asked, tugging lightly on his sleeve.

"No, I don't believe so. I have some work to get done," Snape said as he squatted down so he could be eye level with the little boy, "but I will drop you off again tomorrow if you want." Snape patted Nathaniel on the head and the boy's eyes brightened.

Snape stood up slowly, closing his eyes tightly and biting his bottom lip, as a sharp pain shot from his knee to his lower spine. He said nothing, but Hermione had noticed.

"So, how do you know Nathaniel?" Mary asked.

"Oh, I'm just the neighbor," Snape offered.

"It's so nice of you to help Linda. I can't imagine raising six children without a husband. I know that it's hard and it definitely shows on the children but, it's good for them to have a man around from time to time. I feel that Nathaniel just isn't getting enough discipline sometimes. It's good to know that there are people with giving hearts to help out," Mary said gently.

Snape visibly clenched, having rarely ever felt so defensive in his life. He usually didn't care about what people thought about him, as he was picked on quite a bit during school, but this lady, who was still a complete stranger, voiced her ill-formed opinion with so much certainty that it made his blood boil. To top it off, he was sure he heard Hermione snort at Mary's comment, obviously blowing it off as rubbish.

"I hardly think that Linda is destitute," Snape offered up. "In fact, I help her, not out of the goodness of my heart but, in response to the goodness of hers. She is constantly watching out for those around her," Snape explained. Hermione felt like she had definitely dodged a bullet when Snape seemed to have finished without being too harsh towards Mary.

But, he barreled on after a quick breath, "Why don't you mind your own business and tell that over-grown child of yours-,"

It was here that Hermione saw it best to intervene, "And on that note, we really must be going." She gently began to usher Snape back towards the gate of the building.

"I'm just saying that I couldn't imagine how hard it must be to lose a husband so suddenly. Don't you agree, Diana?" Mary looked to Hermione's retreating form for support but, when she turned to acknowledge the comment, Mary found a very dark look on her face instead. "Diana?"

"You're right. I couldn't imagine it," Hermione said dryly. "Bye, Mary. Always nice talking to you."

Snape nodded politely and followed Hermione out towards the gate. Once they were a good distance outside, Snape said with a dry voice, "If you want your past to stay a secret, you're going to have to be a better actress." The voice made Hermione feel like she was back in his classroom being scolded for helping Neville.

"You do realize that I just saved you from being pummeled by that woman for talking about her well-fed darling, right?" Hermione mentioned, ignoring his comment completely.

"I'm just saying that you could have played off the dead husband with a little more grace," Snape said undeterred and still slightly upset that Mary had made him feel so protective of Nathaniel.

Hermione stopped her mid-stride down the sidewalk and spun around sharply on her heal until she was almost nose to nose with him. "I didn't have this problem until you showed up asking questions and poking around in what's none of your business," Hermione snapped at him.

Her anger caught him by surprise, but he should have known that he was in dangerous territory. "Don't get mad at me just because I happened to show up about the same time you ran out of places to hide your emotions," Snape snarled back.

"That's really rich coming from you," Hermione fired back.

Hermione continued down the sidewalk but, at a faster pace that made keeping up with her difficult. She slowed to cross the street but, before stopping, she abruptly turned facing Snape again. However, Snape had been able to catch up so, when she stopped, he was almost on top of her.

"Why are you here?" She asked roughly.

"Because I told Nathaniel that I would walk him to school if he promised to stop punching the walls and talk to the teacher about his bully problem," Snape explained as if it were completely obvious.

"No, not that! Here as in Bosnia," Hermione waved her arms around so as to indicate the area around them, "in the apartment next to mine, in every aspect of my life. Why are you everywhere? You don't go away," Hermione finished in an exasperated voice.

"Because that's just how it happened. Do you honestly think I planned something like this? I wanted to get out of England and France and I've always enjoyed Bosnia. It just happened to be a Hot Spot that I could use in my research. The apartment was the place John showed me and I like it. I can assure you that, had I known you were here, I would have thought twice about it but, unfortunately not everything revolves around you," Snape's voice remained low and he looked around as to not create a scene but, he could feel Hermione's frustration.

She didn't say anything. She just turned around stepping into the street without looking first. Snape almost didn't react in time, as the large car sped down the street. He quickly reached out, grabbing her arm, yanking her back onto the curb. Hermione twisted her ankle slightly but, fell safely back into his arms.

"You're going to get yourself killed. Are you alright?" He asked, as she gingerly tried out her ankle.

"Yeah. Thanks," she mumbled, as she rotated her ankle slowly, putting some weight on it. When she was sure she was fine, she backed out of his arms, looking at him and then at the ground. She really had nothing else to say, so she turned back towards the street, looked both ways, and crossed throwing a quick, "I'll see you later," over her shoulder.

Snape stood in the same spot, watching with a quizzical eye. He had always known that Gryffindor's wore their hearts on their sleeves but, something had convinced him a long time ago that maybe she was different. Now, he felt as though he could see right through her. He wasn't sure why, but he was certain that he was that person with whom she needed to share her story. He quickly made it a point to do anything in his power to help her through this, because he owed her. That's the mantra that kept playing in his head for the next hour. _I owe her._

* * *

AN: I hope you are enjoying the story. I had a great time writing and rewriting it. :-)


	10. In Close Proximity

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter universe. I just borrow shamelessly.

* * *

Hermione barreled into her office an hour before John showed up. Her desk was covered with projects that needed to be entered. Along with all of the junk mail and several other minor jobs that anyone could have dealt during the four days had been away. She sighed deeply, but smiled to herself because as long as John thought that she was the only person who could sort through junk mail, her job was secure.

She placed her brief case in a small cabinet under her desk setting straight to work. This was going to be a long morning, which was exactly what she needed to keep her mind off of one man in particular. Hermione found herself glaring inwardly. Snape had come out of nowhere and bulldozed over her life as she as she had known it, and she couldn't help but resent him for that. She thought a little deeper though and realized that, while she was uncomfortable now, this could be the healing she's needed. Snape was merely the unwanted catalyst in this situation.

A few hours later, John came in. "Diana!" he exclaimed, happily surprised as he saw her crouching low looking through files in a bottom drawer.

"Hey John," Hermione didn't even look up from her work, continuing to digging.

"You're here! I'm so glad. I was honestly lost without you," John replied with a certain theatrical flair.

Hermione rolled her eyes playfully. "I still need a few days to finish with Mr. Prince but, I'm way ahead of schedule so, I thought I'd try to not get too far behind. I can't imagine it was too bad without me," Hermione replied grabbing the file she had been looking for, which _was_ out of place, and took a seat at her desk for the first time that morning.

She set the folder next to the calendar with all of John's dates and meetings, there were several things added and crossed out but, it wasn't in the neat way that she normally wrote. It was more of a rushed scribble and some of them were barely legible. John smiled brightly, as he watched her displeasure at his chicken scratch.

"I'm glad you were able to find time to come in for a few hours," he said as he walked back to his office. "I hope Mr. Prince is behaving himself."

"Uncannily so," Hermione said under her breath as she looked at the calendar and tried to decipher whether his meeting with Miranda Goshawk was at 9 or 4. Hermione decided that she was just going to do her work and not let the lack of control bother her right now. A few minutes before nine o'clock, a tall, elegant, older witch with perfectly white hair and sparkling green eyes walked in.

"Good morning Mrs. Goshawk?" Hermione said with her customary polite smile.

Miranda nodded, having a difficult time concealing her inquisitive stare towards her, but recovered quickly. Hermione picked up the phone, buzzing John's office. "Mr. Taylor, Miranda Goshawk is here for your meeting," she said into the phone.

"Send her in," John replied, hanging up.

Hermione escorted the older witch to John's office. "Is there anything I can get you?" Hermione asked as Miranda took her seat across from John.

"A glass of water, please," Miranda replied kindly.

"Anything for you, sir?" Hermione asked John, who shook his head no.

Hermione quickly grabbed a cup, filling it with fresh filtered water. She added a few pieces of ice and then headed back to John's door. She knocked lightly and walked in. Miranda and John were already in the middle of their conversation about her latest spell. Hermione set the cup on the table next to Miranda's chair and left without saying a word.

Once at her desk Hermione dove into her work and didn't look away from it until Miranda and John came out of his office two hours later. They were both laughing and chuckling about something. John dropped an envelope on her desk but, continued walking the older woman to the door.

Once the two were at the door Hermione heard Miranda say, "John, how can you allow a young witch as powerful as her to sit at a desk typing all day?"

"What do you mean, powerful?" Hermione heard John ask.

"Can't you feel it?" Miranda asked not even bothering to hush her voice. Hermione was starting to feel rather uncomfortable with both of them staring at her, and having to continue working as if she couldn't hear exactly what they were saying.

"Miranda, I assure you I don't know what you mean," John said trying to keep his voice at a casual whisper.

The older witch looked over at Hermione giving her a quizzical look. "Be glad you have her, John, because she's wasting her time here." And with that Miranda left.

John didn't say anything as he passed her desk, heading back to his office. Hermione imagined that he was going to be playing stupid for as long as he could. From what Hermione could gather about her boss, he was a nice guy but, he didn't like having witches around for long periods of time who were stronger them him - at least that's what Hermione thought since he had married a squib and yet had numerous trysts with some of the greatest minds of their time.

Hermione continued her work for another hour before she began putting things away and locking the file cabinets. A few minutes later, her stomach growled reminding her that it was time for lunch. She grabbed a pile of folders that was a little bit larger than she could handle slid them to an open drawer but, in her attempts to do this quickly, she lost a couple of pages, which made a mess on her desk. Picking up all of the papers with haste, she bumped her picture from its spot, watching as it fell to the floor with a solid crack.

Hermione groaned in annoyance as she straightened up the files first and then knelt down to pick up the picture. The glass was cracked but, not broken. The picture was of her in the middle of several dark skinned children, taken a few years after she had been in Africa. It wasn't a magical picture so, the image captured a still moment but, the story behind it was just as powerful. As she ran her finger over the smiling faces, she remembered how tan she had become after spending several years in the sun every day. Yet, to the kids, she was still rather pale, an observation they mentioned on more than one occasion.

After a few seconds of just looking over the picture and allowing herself to remember, Hermione heard sounds of John leaving his office. She quickly stuffed the picture into a briefcase pocket and continued her normal routine of closing down the office. John walked out just as she shut down her computer and started straightening the piles on her desk.

"You know that there's a spell that will do that," John offered as he went to the break-room which was a small outlet towards the side of the office.

Hermione lightly shrugged, "I was born and raised Muggle. It's easier for me just to do it this way." She loaded her briefcase making sure everything was straight and organized.

"If you want I can teach you the spell," John offered.

"It's fine. The Muggle way has worked well for me for most of my life," Hermione responded.

"If you say so," John stated, as he headed for the break room. "I guess I'll see you on Monday."

Hermione gave him her best I-can't-wait face with a nod. John grabbed a soda heading back into office. She placed the last of her things in her bag and left the office before she had to sit through any other awkward conversations.

The walk home was quick, even though Hermione's pace was at best a stroll gazing at all of the children outside playing on the streets in passing. Once Hermione had arrived home, she checked her mailbox, which only had two other notes in it besides the one addressed to the "permanent occupant" of her apartment. One of the pieces was a bill and the other was an invitation to the European Inventors Conference in Vienna, Austria. Hermione stuck them both in her bag deciding to leave them for later, heading to her apartment.

When she arrived, she quickly threw together a sandwich, placing it neatly on a napkin. After pouring a glass of water, she headed out to the porch, where the fresh air would be a nice reprieve from the stuffy office she had spent most of the day in. Looking over at the neighboring porch, she found Snape sitting in his normal spot with a large book opened in his lap. Hermione considered using her dining room but, decided based on pride, not to be strong armed out of her favorite room in the apartment.

She said nothing as she sat on the bright red lounge chair that took up a large corner of the porch. The only sound for the next thirty minutes was the wind blowing past the building and the wooden wind charm hanging on Linda's back porch making deep melodious music. The silence between Hermione and Snape was not deafening or hostile, rather it was comfortable. There was no need for forced conversation when nothing needed to be said. It was more a testament to how much their relationship had grown in the few days they had spent together than she was willing to admit.

When Hermione finished her meal, she stood up to head back inside, but before crossing over the threshold to her apartment, she said to Snape, "Come over whenever you feel like it, so we can work on your project."

Once in the house, Hermione put away everything from lunch, wiping down her already immaculate counters. She looked back over at her laptop with mixed emotions. There would only be a few more days before she would be done with Snape's notebooks and she found herself at a loss. She was already used to spending every working hour with him, and the thought scared her. She hated how he had wormed his way into her everyday life.

A knock on her door interrupted her thought processes. "Come in," she called.

Snape walked in with another pile of notebooks. "I have a favor to ask," he requested as he set his notebook on her table. His lack of greeting, before barreling into conversation, caught her slightly off guard.

"What's up?" she replied turning towards him.

"While you're typing these, do you mind if I run some test with that machine you were telling me about?" Snape questioned.

"Sure," Hermione said. "I'll go get it," she walked past him, the awkwardness and edge of the situation dissipating some. In her room, she opened the door to her closet, looking up to the very top shelf. She knew which box she was looking for, the brown one labeled 'Kitchen Utensils', which just happened to be the one under the pink box labeled 'Rock Collection' and yet another, larger box that was labeled 'Handle with care. Do not break seal.' Hermione grumbled to herself, "What on earth was I thinking when I arranged boxes?"

Stretching up to the top shelf, she carefully pressed her left hand against the pink box, while wiggling the brown one out from under it with her right hand. She almost had completely loose, when there was a soft crack somewhere else in the closet. Hermione froze, but a second later, the entire shelf, filled with tightly packed boxes and dusty books, collapsed sending all of its inhabitants sliding down onto Hermione and the floor around her. "Ahhh!" Hermione yelped as she fell back, covering her head as best she could.

Hearing the commotion, Snape jumped forward from his relaxed position against her counter and sprinted into her room. When he arrived, he found Hermione completely buried, her arms pushing in vain against a large box that had wedged itself tightly between the two parallel walls in the small walk-in closet.

In her attempt to dig herself out of the pile, Hermione had torn part of the box that read 'Handle with care. Do not break seal' open. Snape grabbed the hole she had just ripped and pulled but, instead of moving, the top part ripped revealing a vacuum sealed bag with a wedding dress inside. Leaning over without even acknowledging the contents of the box, he bent it in the middle, forcing it to release its grip on the walls. Then tossing it aside, he took Hermione's extended arm by the wrist, gingerly pulling her up out of the pile of boxes, like a fragile doll. Once out of the mess, Hermione searched for the box she had originally intended on removing from her closet. Grabbing it from the midst of the other strewn boxes, she offered it to him with a sheepish smile.

Snape took the box but couldn't tear his eyes away from the mess of books, boxes, rocks, and, on top of it all, the perfectly pressed wedding dress. After a few seconds of deafening silence, where the tension could be cut with a knife, Snape finally said, "You have the strangest closet I have ever seen."

"I doesn't usually look like this," Hermione replied trying to pull him out of his trance, but she immediately cringed, as she realized he was well aware of that fact.

Hermione tried to shepherd him back out of her room but, he only dodged around her stepping back into the closet. Her stomach sank, as she steeled herself to be hit with some kind of judgment concerning her personal space. He eyed the holes in her wall where the shelf had pulled out. "Did you put this up using a Muggle method?" He asked curiously, touching the wholes with his fingers.

Hermione sighed in exacerbation. "You know the answer to that question is yes," she said resting her forehead against the cold metal of the door frame.

"Would you like me to put it back up for you?" Snape asked as politely as possible. At this, Hermione lifted her head, staring at him as if she hadn't heard him correctly.

"No thank you. I can manage myself," Hermione said matching his own polite tone, except her voice had a cold edge to it.

Snape cocked and eye brow, "Would you do it correctly?"

"I did it correctly the first time," she snapped back.

"I doubt it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have ended up under a pile of suppressed memories," Snape immediately regretted what he said. It was a low-blow that somehow came out before it reached any mental filter. He watched as every part of her tensed and a dangerous look came over her face. He could feel the walls around her go up, like she was physically pushing him away without as much as moving a muscle.

"I'm going to walk away now. If you feel like magic will fix it, then go ahead and fix it. I don't care anymore," Hermione stormed out of the room and sat with a flop at her table in front of the laptop. She began typing so hard and so fast that, by the time Snape walked back out of her room fifteen minutes later, her knuckles were pulsating and her keyboard was having a hard time keeping up with her.

Snape had the brown "Kitchen Utensils" box clutched under his arm and she could see dust trailed across his black slacks from where he had brushed up against dusty boxes. "Do you mind if I go out on the back porch and play around with your machine?" Snape asked.

Hermione shrugged disinterestedly, "Sure."

About a minute later, she could hear the machine humming and see him through the doors walking around, taking different readings. She forced herself to focus but, found that between wanting to know what he was doing and needing to know what he had touched in her closet, she had no focus for a two hundred page notebook about the scientific process of isolating magical ions.

She got up while his back was turned and ran back to her room. She swung into her closet and was surprised at what she saw. The shelves were secured on the walls, the rocks were placed in their labeled box, and all of the books, as well as the boxes, remained sitting on the ground so that she could place them back in her own order. Hermione huffed, she couldn't be mad at him for that. She checked the shelves, checking their stability and finding that they didn't budge at all.

_I suppose it wouldn't hurt to thank him_, Hermione thought as she walked out of her closet. Looking out the window that viewed her balcony, she gasped as she watched Snape hop the railing jumping the 3 foot gap between their railings with ease. Walking to the window and looking over at his porch, where he was taking samples and casting small spells, she stared silently. He was so absorbed in the machine and its readings, that it was like nothing in the world could tear him away. Hermione found herself leaning against the window frame as entranced, watching him as he cast spells.

Hermione shook her head, she had work to do. Heading back to her laptop, she forced herself to type. She focused on every letter with the precision of a surgeon, dissecting the arch and curve of every line, the intricate detail of every image. After a while, Hermione placed her forehead on the table with a solid thunk. She needed an educated conversation. She needed to discuss hypotheses and proofs. _I've officially lost my mind. I'm fantasizing about scientific methods._

Snape walked in, "Killing flies with your forehead, Miss. Jukofsky?"

"I need a break," Hermione said her face still pressed to the table.

Snape's face went passive, "I understand. I'll leave."

Hermione shot up straight. "No," she said too quickly. Snape eyed her, like someone would look at a rabid raccoon ."I just need some time away from the computer screen. So, how did you enjoy the Counter?"

His face immediately switched back to what could pass for excitement, "It's amazing. You found a way to isolate and measure magical ions using a completely Muggle device." Hermione gave him a confused look. He explained, "I assume, based on the crude façade, that you made the machine without magic. Am I wrong?" Snape back pedaled some, not wanting to encroach on her territory.

"No, you're right. Do you want to know why I chose not to use magic?" Hermione asked in her best Professor McGonagall voice.

"I chalked it up to part of your no major magic diet," Snape responded bluntly.

Hermione smirked. He was certainly on a roll today, but she was only a little irritated that he had insulted her handiwork, and belittled her lifestyle in so short a time frame. However, she was quite content to overlook those so she could revel in her moment. "I tried early on, while I was at school in America, to make one using magic. However, using magic in the process messes up the readings," Hermione explained triumphantly.

"And what were you studying?" Snape asked without missing a beat.

"Science Education," Hermione explained. "I discovered that magic could be measured using the same method we use to measure radiation. Except instead of halogen based reactions, you use Mercury and instead of a Mica filter, you use Beryl."

"What made you think those changes would work?" Snape took the seat across from her and the two began chatting amiably about the things she noticed in her chemistry class and how she would sneak in after hours to test her theories.

"So, your rule breaking extracurricular activities weren't limited to Hogwarts," Snape observed casually.

Hermione looked away bashfully, "No. I just got better at them."

For the next two hours, they sat at her kitchen table discussing different theories and methods. Hermione dug a screw driver out of one of her drawers and took the facing off of the machine to show him the inside. When her clock chimed, Hermione looked to see it was already three. Standing, she offered, "I have to go over and help Sarah with her project. We can continue this conversation later if you want."

Snape nodded in approval, "I look forward to it." He stood to leave and then noticing his pile of notebooks said, "I'm going to leave these with you, so you can work on them when you have a chance."

"Thanks. I should be able to finish them tonight," she said walking with him to the door.

"You know where to find me if you have any questions," Snape said as the two of them walked out of her apartment into the hallway. Snape continued towards his door, while Hermione stopped to lock hers. She then waved politely to Snape, as he walked into his apartment and she continued to Linda's place.

Hermione knocked lightly on the door to Linda's apartment, but didn't wait for a response before opening the door and walking inside. Sarah, Emily and Ivan were sitting at the table doing homework, while the younger ones were running around doing small chores. She smiled as Christine walked by with a rag that she used to wipe down the bottom half of the walls.

Sarah looked up at Hermione and said, "As soon as I finish my math, we can get started on the project." Hermione, who still didn't know exactly what the project entailed, just nodded, walking into the kitchen where Linda was on her hands and knees pulling out pans from under the stove and handing them to Jacob, who was standing at the sink rinsing and wiping them down.

"Do you need any help?" Hermione asked as she walked around the corner.

Linda didn't even startle, but continued what she was doing. "Can you grab a rag and follow behind Christine?" Linda asked. Hermione didn't respond as she simply grabbed a rag from under the sink and began wiping down the walls of all of the dirt and dust that collected on them over the year. Christine smiled up at Hermione continuing her wide sweeping motion, which was very ineffective due to her short arms and failure to go back to any of the places she missed. Hermione washed everything again reaching up on her tip toes and slightly jumping to get the part of the wall right below the ceiling.

That's what she was doing when the door opened and Snape walked inside. Christine laughed at Hermione, as she purposely made funny noises as she jumped.

"Do it again!" Christine said as Hermione rested her arm and cleaned a spot a little lower.

"You have to clean a little further before I have to clean the top again," Hermione explained.

Christine quickly rushed over the next couple feet of wall. "Again, again!' she said once she had deemed herself finished with that section of wall. Hermione took her time cleaning the lower parts and just as she was about to do the top part Snape walked up saying, "Here, allow me."

Hermione jumped slightly since she hadn't heard him come in. She raised the cloth in her hand offering it to him, but Snape shook his head took out his wand and with it cleaned the top foot of the wall.

Christine looked down trodden and Hermione just smirked and said, "Kill joy."

Snape smirked and then asked, "Story of my life. Where's Linda?"

"Kitchen," Hermione replied curtly, as she and Christine went back to washing the walls.

Snape nodded already heading towards the kitchen. When his back was turned, he heard Christine laughing and Hermione making the weird noises again. He reached the kitchen, where Linda was now putting all of the clean and dry pots and pans back in an orderly fashion.

"Good afternoon, Linda," Snape said, as he handed down a few of the heavier pots that Jacob had been struggling with.

"Hello, Tobias. Are you here for Nathaniel?" Linda asked as she sat up on the floor, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"If I'm not taking him away from anything too important," Snape said noticing that the boy in question was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, no, he's just cleaning up his room," Linda said, as she looked up at Snape smiling. "He's really excited about starting lessons today," she added.

"I'm looking forward to it as well. Maybe these will prevent anymore torture of the poor wall," he replied turning to go get Nathaniel from his room.

"Tobias, you will let me know if you want me to pay you, won't you?" Linda asked.

Snape reassured her, "Linda, all I could ask for is a good meal every so often and perhaps your company."

"Well, then, you owe me some lessons," Linda added chuckling as she went back to rearranging the rest of the pots and pans.

"I suppose so, I'll be sure to have him back within an hour. I just want to talk to him to assess where he is mentally and we'll begin most of the training on Saturday with the rest of them," Snape explained.

He headed to the back of the apartment where the kids shared rooms. Nathaniel was just putting the last of his dirty clothes in the laundry hamper when Snape walked in.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked. Nathaniel smiled up at him, nodding. Throwing on a pair of shoes, Nathaniel followed Snape out of the room, into the main area. Hermione eyed the two but, continued with her work with Christine.

"Nathaniel, do you mind if we go to my apartment? There will be fewer distractions there," Snape asked as he opened the door to the hallway, allowing Nathaniel to walk out ahead of him.

"Yes, sir," Nathaniel replied eagerly.

Snape took the wards off of his door and walked in followed closely by Nathaniel. "Do you always lock your door when you come over? Why?" Nathaniel asked.

"Habit," Snape replied.

"Will you teach me how to lock the door like that?" Nathaniel asked.

"Maybe one day, but that's something that you'll probably have to learn in a school that specializes in those sorts of things," Snape explained. "But that's beside the point. Nathaniel, I want to help you focus your abilities but, I need to know how they work."

Nathaniel nodded his head in understanding and Snape ushered him to a chair. He sat down and Snape took a seat across from him. "Let's start near the beginning. When did you first start noticing certain people felt different from others?" Snape asked.

Nathaniel shrugged so, Snape rephrased his question, "Who was the first person you remember feeling different when you were around them?"

"My teacher, but only when she was doing magic," Nathaniel explained.

"Was there any other time that you had a strong feeling from someone?" Snape asked.

"One day Jasmine and Jeremy got into a fight and I felt it then. I don't know who it was since I haven't felt it since but, it was stronger than my teacher's when she is doing simple spells."

Nathaniel thought for a little bit longer and then continued, "The only other person I could ever feel was Ms. Diana, and I felt her as soon as I first met her. It was such a sad feeling but, eventually it became nicer and for a while she was happier."

"What do you mean for a while?" Snape asked.

"Recently, she started feeling different again. I could never feel one emotion because it was always changing," he explained.

Snape had to stop himself for pressing for more information about Hermione. He was here to find out about Nathaniel.

"Have you ever noticed strange things happening in your favor?" Snape asked after a long pause.

"What do you mean?" Nathaniel asked knitting his eyebrows.

"I mean, has there ever been a moment when something wasn't going well for you, something that really upset you and then all of the sudden it worked out?" Snape tried to explain.

"Well, sometimes when I'm losing a game and Ivan is being really mean about it, if I wish really hard, I can get what I want on the next turn," Nathaniel said.

"Does it work every time?" Snape asked.

Nathaniel nodded his head. Snape took two pens out of his pocket and transfigured them into a pair of die, one red, and one green.

"Here, roll two sixes. Do you think you can do that?" Snape asked handing the small boy the pair of die.

Nathaniel nodded, closing his eyes and shaking the die sloppily in his hand, tossing them onto the table with his eyes still closed. Snape watched closely as the die rolled normally out of his hand and twisted in the air as they approached the table. Everything was normal until they hit the table when they began to act like loaded die and weighted themselves in favor of sixes. Snape watched until the end when they both landed six-side up. He looked over at Nathaniel, who was just now opening his eyes. He looked happy but, not surprised. They had done what he had wanted them to do.

"Nathaniel, roll again, this time I want you to roll a two on the red one and a five on the green," Snape said. Nathaniel looked a little skeptical but, he picked the die up and shook them lightly in his hand. With his eyes shit tightly, he rolled the die. Snape watched again as the two die did exactly the same thing as they had done before, the red dice landed with the two up and the green dice landed with the five up. Snape looked at Nathaniel, who was very surprised this time.

"Try something magical without the die," Snape said in a very off-handed tone.

"Like what?" Nathaniel asked.

"Surprise me," Snape replied.

Nathaniel closed his eyes for a long time, as Snape eyed his apartment, carefully looking for any changes that Nathaniel could be doing but, a couple of seconds later nothing had changed and Nathaniel was still concentrating deeply. Snape decided to give him all of the time he wanted, and after another full minute Nathaniel opened his eyes. He was clearly tired. He looked carefully at his knees for a while and then Snape said to him, "Did it work?"

Nathaniel looked up at Snape, a huge smile breaking across his face followed by a mischievous chuckle. Snape looked down at his clothes, extending his hands and arms but, seeing nothing different. Then, he caught his reflection in the sliding glass door leading to the porch, revealing a deep forest green shade on his head. Snape wasn't sure whether to be furious or impressed. He quickly transfigured a mirror, revealing his fears to be true— he had a head full of green hair. There were bits of black still running through it but, even his eyebrows had been turned. Snape had to stop himself from admiring the work. It was a very thorough job and part of him had to admit that it wasn't half bad, as green had always suited him.

Nathaniel's meek voice broke through his thoughts, "You aren't mad at me, Mr. Prince?"

"I'll take the blame for this one, seeing as I didn't specify but, why did you decide to change my hair?" Snape asked. Truth be told, if it was any other color he probably would have been upset, but deep down he was and always would be a Slytherin.

"Sarah had said the other day that you wouldn't be so scary if you didn't wear all black, and even though you try to be nice sometimes you can still be scary. I thought maybe it would help but, I never thought it would actually work!" Nathaniel knew he shouldn't tell on Sarah but, Snape's eyes had a way of making him spill the beans.

Snape thought for a while, and as he was pondering, he heard laughing coming in from his back door. People must have been out on the porch. Nathaniel recognized one of the voices as Sarah's and became antsy.

"You did a very good job today. I think that's enough for now but, before we leave, why don't you turn my hair back to its original color?" Snape said.

Nathaniel closed his eyes and tried to focus but, he kept opening his eyes to see if it was fixed when absolutely nothing had happened.

"I can't," he said after a few minutes, "besides I think it looks nice." The young boy got up from his seat, heading to the back door leading to the porch, "Thanks for the lesson, Mr. Prince."

Snape followed quickly behind. Once he was outside, he saw Nathaniel looking over the railing at Hermione's balcony. She was sitting in a chair, while Sarah was sitting across from her with a sketch pad. "Sarah, what are you doing?" Nathaniel asked.

"Drawing Ms. Diana for my project," Sarah replied.

"Can I see?" Nathaniel asked. Sarah just shrugged.

"If Mr. Prince is done with you, you guys are more than welcome to head over," Hermione said. Nathaniel looked up at Snape with pleading eyes. Snape simply nodded, following the small boy over to Hermione's apartment. Nathaniel opened Hermione's unlocked door, running towards the back. By the time Snape had made it to the back, Nathaniel was already sitting in Hermione's lap telling her about his session with Snape.

"And then he transformed the pens into dice," Nathaniel explained. "Can you transform things?" he asked in excitement.

"No, not really," Hermione lied easily. Nathaniel ran to Sarah's side, watching as she sketched the edges of Hermione's face.

"Sarah, I didn't know you were good at drawing," Snape said standing in the doorway, eyeing the scene carefully.

"That's because I have five younger siblings, who are constantly messing up my pictures," Sarah growled at Nathaniel, who was reaching out to touch her sketch.

"Nathaniel, why don't you get my vase and scissors from the kitchen and cut some of this belladonna," Hermione said.

Nathaniel ran off, happy to have an important job, leaving the three silent on the balcony. "Thanks Ms. Diana," Sarah said after a few minutes.

"So, what's this for?" Snape asked.

"It's an English project," Sarah explained. "I'm supposed to make my own piece of art. I can draw, paint, sculpt, whatever I want, and then I'm supposed to find a poem that I feel captures that image," Sarah explained.

"That's a little backwards," Hermione chimed in, "Don't you usually have a poem and then hash out an image."

"We already did that. Now, my teacher wants us to try it the other way but, we can interpret the poem however we want, as long as we provide support," Sarah clarified.

The two adults nodded in understanding. A few seconds later, Nathaniel ran out of the house with a vase filled with water and a pair of scissors.

"Hey," Snape called out, causing everyone to jump, "don't run."

Nathaniel walked the rest of the way over to the belladonna. Slowly and with a steady hand, he cut the buds off one by one resting them gently in the water. He took random samples from all over the bush. Snape was impressed by the near perfect form Nathaniel had, as he maneuvered the scissors to cut the stem away from the bud at a forty five degree angle.

Hermione watched as Snape in turn watched Nathaniel. She smirked slightly, her eyes curious as she analyzed his interpretation of Nathaniel's movement. Sarah scribbled madly in her sketch book, trying to catch Hermione's eyes before they became foggy and distant again. As the sun moved across the sky towards the horizon, Hermione noticed the light reflecting off of Snape's hair wasn't quite right.

"Is your hair green?" Hermione asked. She didn't even bother to hide her amusement. Snape just glared. "Oh I see," Hermione continued, "just trying something new?"

Snape gave her the most intimidating look he could muster but, it only caused her to burst out into laughter. "No need to get upset, Mr. Prince it honestly suits you." Hermione joked.

Snape huffed, turning back into Hermione's house. "Bothersome witch," he growled as he headed to her bathroom to get a better look at it. Once there, Snape tried a couple of spells that he knew but, they didn't help at all. He tried a little bit of soap and water, which also failed, and after retrying all of his spells again, he headed back out onto the porch. Nathaniel set the bowl of Belladonna on the dining room table, taking a seat at Hermione's feet and leaving the other chair in the corner of the balcony open for Snape. Hermione had sobered up slightly since he left but, she still smiled wildly as he approached the chair a few feet away.

"Nathaniel told me how he did it," Hermione said as he sat down.

"Does you have any bright ideas for fixing it?" Snape growled. He wasn't really upset with her or Nathaniel, he just wanted to be grouchy.

"If it was wandless magic that changed it, then why don't you try wandless magic to turn it back?" Hermione offered.

"Beacause, as I'm sure you learned your first year at whatever school you went to," Snape replied at Hermione, who didn't miss the glint in his eye, "once you are trained in using a wand, it becomes very difficult to revert back to primal wandless magic."

"I do recall hearing that," she said, "but that doesn't mean it's impossible."

"Well, let me know when you run into someone who has enough control to fix my hair without burning it off and we can put your theory to the test," Snape barked.

"Finished," Sarah chimed in as she held up the picture triumphantly. Hermione was impressed by how accurate it was and how she had captured so many emotions in her picture.

"Sarah, it looks wonderful," Hermione said as she hugged the younger girl.

"I need to go back and change some things but, it's a good base," Sarah explained.

"What do you need to change?" Snape asked.

"Well, I want to redraw it without all the scribbles and I want to write the poem around the face," Sarah explained.

"Do you know which poem you are going to use?" Hermione asked.

"I have a few ideas, but I have to look at them again with the picture," Sarah said as she stood up and put all of her sketch materials away.

"Well, I'd love to see the finished project," Hermione said, as she stood to open the glass door for Sarah, who was still putting her sketchbook in her little bag.

"I should have it done by tomorrow morning. I'll show it to you then," Sarah said, as she wiped her fingertips, which were covered in coal, off on her jeans.

"Nathaniel, why don't you go with your sister and open the doors for her, so she doesn't get fingerprints everywhere? I need to talk to Mr. Prince for a moment," Hermione said.

Nathaniel got up, leading the way for Sarah. Once the kids were through the house and out the front door, Snape looked up at Hermione while still in the chair. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about, _Diana_?" he asked emphasizing her name. The two hardly ever called each other by name, so when they did address the other one it was very obvious and sometimes awkward.

Hermione simply glared, "Well, you want your hair fixed don't you?"

"You think you can do it?" Snape was seriously doubtful.

"I know I can," Hermione replied. "Unless, of course, you prefer having green hair until it grows out. That will look classy: green hair and black roots," Hermione mocked.

Snape picked up a small truck that had been left on Hermione's porch from one of the kids, transfiguring it into a hand mirror. "If you mess it up more, I'm going to return the favor," Snape threatened.

Hermione walked behind him, flipping up the closely cut strand of hair. Snape jumped slightly at her touch. "Wait, you actually have to touch me?" he asked.

"It's primitive magic. What did you expect?" Hermione said, as she slowly ran her hand up and down the length of his head. Snape angled the mirror, so he could watch her hands. She worked on his hair in small sections, running her fingers through it, from time to time looking for pieces that she missed. However, without fail, every piece that she ran her hands through slowly turned from dark green to its original stark black.

"Are you sure you don't want me to leave green highlights?" Hermione chuckled.

"Only if you want golden Gryffindor highlights for yourself."

Hermione smiled, finishing the last couple strands at the top of his head. Snape moved the mirror from Hermione's hands to her face. She was focused on the task at hand but, in the same light it was like she was in a completely different world. He opened his mouth in an attempt to ask her what she was thinking but, before he could, she said, "There, I think that's the rest of it but, let's look at it inside under a different light to double check."

Hermione headed into the living room, were she turned on the big light in the middle of the ceiling. Snape stood in front of her, as she stood on her toes picking through the rest of his hair. After a few seconds, she ruffled his hair roughly.

"Are you finished?" Snape asked annoyed. His back was starting to hurt from leaning over slightly to compensate for the height difference.

"I just want to be thorough," Hermione explained.

"I think you could have counted every hair on my head at that point," Snape scowled.

"Well, we're done here. Feel free to double check my work," Hermione said with a playful chuckle.

Snape eyed her cautiously, "I believe you."

Hermione felt an odd swelling in her chest. He believed her. Why did she feel like that was the same as a proclamation of complete trust? "I won't be insulted if you go and check," Hermione offered.

Snape shrugged, "You managed to keep me out of Azkaban, when I didn't even have the will to fight for myself. It's a small favor to trust that you got all of the noticeable green out of my hair. Although, I am very interested in your use of wandless magic," he said eyeing her suspiciously.

Hermione shrugged quickly busying herself straightening out one of the chairs in the living room, when suddenly her stomach churned loudly. She smiled bashfully but, then began to focus deeply on his face, as if there was something there.

"What is it?" Snape asked.

"Your eyebrows are still green," Hermione said simply.

Snape snorted touching them, "Do you mind?"

Hermione approached Snape carefully. She leaned towards him with an inquiring eye, examining his eyebrows. Snape's gaze locked on her eyes, following them as they ran over every crevice and wrinkle. After a few long seconds, she lifted her right hand, resting her palm on his left temple. Slowly, she placed her thumb on the inside of the brow, gradually dragging it along the grain of the hair carefully until it was all black again. She then did the same to the other side, except this time allowing her hand to lightly brush along his cheek as she slid it down.

"There. I believe that's the last of it," Hermione said lightly, as she slowly stood, backing away from Snape's intense gaze.

Snape continued to watch her, feeling all of her emotions as they flashed before her eyes. Hermione continued to back away but, never took her eyes off of his, until she tripped over the coffee table, landing on the other side with a giant thud.

* * *

AN: If you made it through this chapter in one sitting go take a talk around the kitchen table stretch and eat some comfort food.


	11. In Agreement

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter universe. I just borrow shamelessly.

* * *

"Gah!" Hermione yelped as she fell right onto her rear end.

"Hermione!" Snape called leaping forward to help her up. Her cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. My pride, on the other hand, is a bit bruised," Hermione said, taking his hand, allowing him to lift her to her feet. "I'm such a klutz some days," Hermione said as she let him help her back on to her feet.

"I think your pride will recover," Snape answered his hand remaining on her lower back as she walked towards the dining area chairs.

Hermione laughed off his concern, "One can only hope. I haven't eaten since breakfast but, I'm sure this has more to do with my lack of coordination. I was going to make spaghetti tonight if you would like to join me."

"I would be happy to but, I have one request," Snape stated. Hermione nodded for him to continue. "Let me cook," Hermione stared at him blankly as if she had misheard him. "You can barely walk around in your own living room. The idea of you moving around a hot stove makes me nervous." The apprehensive look on Hermione's face did not go away. "I promise you, it would be my pleasure."

She sighed, "Well then, in that case it would be inconsiderate for me to deny you, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, I would say so," Snape replied, already busying himself in the kitchen. After a week of secretly watching her bustle around for breakfast or lunch, he had a pretty good working knowledge of her kitchen.

Hermione sat down at her computer, typing up the notebooks he had left on her table. The kitchen fell into a comfortable silence and Snape allowed his mind to wander, while effortlessly moving through the motions of boiling water and heating the sauce. He glanced over at Hermione, who was chewing slightly on her bottom lip, as she concentrated on the screen in front of her. He tried to remember if during her Hogwarts days she had done that, but couldn't for the life of him.

He realized now how little attention he had paid to her during her first six years at the school. Sure, he had known she was been bright but, he had been so busy trying to keep Potter alive, and making the boy's life miserable all at once, that everything else became lost in a regular shuffle. It wasn't really until his Wizengamont hearing had ended, from the safety of an Irish hotel room, that he realized that at some point the girl, who had once sat in his class waving her hand incessantly at every question, didn't need to prove anything anymore. She was a formidable opponent for any witch or wizard.

He glanced towards her again and caught her looking up at him. She buried her face back behind the screen, her cheeks flushed. Snape turned back to his now boiling water, adding the pasta. The whole process moved much faster and cleaner with a wand. He had watched in frustration during the past week, as Hermione had completed each task wandlessly and at the pace of a snail. She was certainly good at it but, he was so used to everything being done magically, that to have to wait more than a minute for a quart of water to boil was a ridiculous waste of time.

Snape thought about Hermione's blatant lack of magical necessity and scowled. Who was she kidding? She practically reeked of magic, so much so that four year old boys noticed, and yet she had built a life around complete ignorance of the craft, and in the same breath she showed a deep understanding and control of wandless magic. However, he understood why she wouldn't want to leave the Wizarding world. Once a witch, always a witch but, he couldn't pinpoint what she was trying to prove with this "magical fast" of hers. He felt frustration begin to boil up within his chest. He just didn't understand because he couldn't find any logical reason behind it.

He tried thinking of anything else to get his mind off the frustration. He looked back down as the pasta and began considering the boiling properties of the water but, at the sound of her flipping a page in his notebook, he was right back to thinking about her. Somehow she had created an incredibly intricate item from a completely Muggle design and to make matters worse, from what he could see so far, it worked perfectly. He found himself imagining how her device could change magical research in a dramatic way. If this worked the way he thought, then they would be able to measure magical input and output like an Arithmancy equation. It would add a completely new dimension to Potions and Transfiguration.

As Snape let his mind run wild with ideas of changing Wizarding education, a tiny thought entered his mind and deflated every single joyful image of him holding an Order of Morgana for Great Achievements in Scholastics. _She would never allow her work to be published._ The thought was like a knife to all of his dreams. He considered the idea of stealing it and patenting it himself but, his ever growing conscious suggested that might not be the best way to settle a life debt or gain her trust. He scowled. He didn't need her trust so, what was it to him if he left her even more broken and betrayed than she already was? Deep down a smaller, slightly more mature voice told him that he if that were truly the case then he wouldn't still be here, offering to cook her dinner, considering inviting her over for dinner at his place tomorrow.

Snape stopped that train of thought immediately, focusing again on the simple meal before him. It wasn't long before the smell of heating sauce filled the apartment. Hermione got up, after finishing a few pages, to set the table. "You're looking a little tense watching the sauce reach just the right temperature," she mentioned with a smirk as she passed him closely.

"Yeah, making spaghetti can be pretty tricky that way," Snape said, leaning against the kitchen counter, watching her move around with ease. It was amazing how easily she could see right through him. She carefully set the plates and silverware down in their spots, setting up each space on a mat and lining the utensils up without allowing them to clink together.

Now that Snape looked around, everything in her house was perfectly straight. Not a single picture tilted, all of the furniture was lined up on what seemed like an invisible grid. Glancing around the kitchen, he noticed a small framed pineapple picture hanging up near one of the cupboards. He smiled mischievously, tilting it slightly before returning back to the pasta, curious as to how long it would take her to notice the imperfection.

Hermione excused herself, as she passed behind him to grab two glasses. "Would you like some wine? Perhaps it will loosen you up." She asked.

"Yes, I'd love a glass," he replied, ignoring her subtle dig. _Perhaps it will loosen you up as well,_ he thought. Hermione walked over to another cupboard to pick out a bottle of the many she had stashed. While she was digging, Snape turned his attention back to the picture, noticing that it was somehow perfectly aligned again. He quickly tilted the picture the other way and leaned back, watching what she would do.

Hermione walked back past him with the bottle of wine in her hand, unconsciously reaching for the titled picture frame again but, just before she moved it, she stopped with her hand in the air, now giving the picture her full attention. After a few long seconds, she tilted it back into place and gave Snape a stern look. "Touch it again and I'll go back in time to let that lovely witch from the Wizengamont lock you up," she said with a warning tone but, her eyes gave away the playfulness behind her words.

"Ah, Ms. Hopkirk. The woman with a past. In the end, I almost felt bad for allowing you to exploit her," Snape replied pensively.

Hermione smirked, "Almost but, not quite, right? I noticed you didn't jump up to offer her that folder back."

Snape just shrugged, "I was still in a war mentality. It was her freedom or mine. At that point, the idea of showing her mercy, in hopes that she could show me the same in return, was inconceivable."

"If you could go back now, would you have burned the documents right there at the trial?" Hermione walked over to the table, setting out the glasses. She turned, watching for Snape's response. He stood quietly for a few moments, stirring the pot, alternating clockwise and counter clockwise, a habit acquired from making many potions in one lifetime.

"I can't say. I'm not the same person as I was then but, the papers are still in a box somewhere. I'm not sure why, because I'm sure I'll never run into her again," Snape continued to watch the noodles pensively before finishing. "I'd like to think that she was just protecting for her family and, in the end, guilt would have gotten the best of her."

"You're far more positive than I am. She accused you of murdering someone she herself killed," Hermione argued.

"It's actually more complicated than that. I would have killed Knott, had I had the chance. She just had better timing," Snape rebuffed.

Hermione huffed in frustration at his matter-of-fact tone, deciding that she would drop the topic, although slightly disgruntled at his apathetic view of the situation.

As Snape began serving the food onto the plates, he stopped and turned to her. "I doubt you would be able to go back in time to stop my inevitable freedom anyway"

Hermione smirked, "Timeturner. Don't you remember? I'm an old pro."

"Did you happen to steal that from a teacher's personal storage too?" He asked. Hermione just chuckled. Snape continued, "Did you _ever _buy your own potion ingredients?"

Hermione threw her head back, laughing harder, "You don't honestly think that I only brewed two expulsion-worthy potions with stolen ingredients, do you?"

Snape huffed, "It infuriated me to no end that you and The Dream Team got away with so much. Everyone just turned a blind eye because Potter was The Chosen One and you and Weasley were his sidekicks." When she didn't respond but, just continued to look at him, amused, he continued, "Did you know that when you broke into my storage during the Triwizard Tournament, Albus told me that he would look into it and then, as I'm watching Potter gobble down _my _ingredient, he just laughed and said, 'Look how well it worked out, Severus. The world isn't always black and white. There is a lot of gray area.' As if I didn't already know that! I lived in that gray area for almost 20 years!"

She smirked, surprised that he was getting so worked up, "I hope you feel better now, getting that off your chest but, I have a confession to make. I didn't steal the gillyweed."

"What?" He gawked, baffled. "There's no way Potter broke into my personal stores without your help. He was never that smart and I had enchantments placed as security."

Hermione blushed slightly and shook her head, "It was Dobby."

"The house elf that nearly killed Potter in his second year?"

"One in the same," she said with a slight chuckle.

Their conversation moved from Hogwarts back to his research, as they sat down to eat. They discussed possible ways to test the potency and effects of Hot Spots now that Snape had access to Hermione's machine.

"So, let me see if I remember, you based the premise of this machine off of the Muggle's Geiger Counter?" Snape clarified, as he pushed his empty plate aside.

"Yes," Hermione said, after she swallowed her mouthful of pasta.

"Then why don't you patent it the Granger Counter?" He asked.

She choked and then whispered shakily, "Because that's not my name. The same reason why Severus Snape doesn't publish research anymore."

Snape scowled darkly and Hermione felt herself shrink slightly under his gaze. It was the first time she had been intimidated by that look since she had left school. "I think now would be a good time to point out that the last few times I've used your given name, you've responded and without bothering to correct me."

Hermione sighed, shrugging noncommittally. Her mind was racing to think of anything to say that might change the subject or stump the man in front of her long enough for him to remove his piercing stare.

"Do you ever regret leaving?" Hermione asked solemnly.

Snape's omniscient eyes showed that he had not missed the horrible attempt at a subject change but, with a deep breath he leaned back in his chair and reflected on her question. Hermione did her best to hold in a sigh of relief that he was going to let her off the hook, however brief.

"I don't regret it," Snape explained with mild confidence. Hermione nodded pensively for him to continue. "However, I also didn't think I would have ever stayed away this long. As painful as it is for me to admit this, you were right. When you accused me of being afraid that Tobias Prince might get all of my credit, you hit a nerve. I always assumed I would wait a few years for all of the hype to die down because then I could go back once it was time to publish. I figured I would have been happily retired by now living off of my royalties."

"Why didn't you just go back then, instead of coming here?" Hermione asked, her face so focused that Snape found it unnerving. She had leaned forward slightly, every ounce of her attention on him. Snape, for a moment, felt like they were back in school and she was waiting for him to pour his knowledge into her - except there were some very pointed differences. Her hand wasn't sitting on the edge of the table waiting to shoot up. It, instead, was sitting calmly in her lap, unmoving like her eyes. The difference was unreal. Sitting there, listening, she was no longer a student or even just a woman he was working with. She was a friend listening attentively, with caring. Something he hadn't seen in someone's eyes since he had last sat down with McGonagall, and similarly, he couldn't just blow her off as a nuisance and a nag.

"One potion discovery lead to another and then to another, and before I knew it, I had been away for fourteen years, still feeling like there was something missing from my work," he explained dryly, finding it difficult to explain to someone the personal thought process behind being a Nomad for 14 years. He had never felt like he had to justify himself to anyone before but, with Hermione, it was different. He wanted her to understand.

"Do you think it's too late to go back?" She questioned.

"It's only too late when you're dead," Snape said and she got a keen sensation that the conversation had taken a turn.

"That's deep," Hermione said sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood. "Would you like that etched on your head stone?"

"Let's pencil that one in for now. I have several good years of witty remarks so, I'd like a nice margin to change it," Snape said matching her sarcasm.

"So, tell me Tobias, where have you been these past fourteen years?" Hermione asked conversationally.

Snape sighed. He was beginning to hate the name more and more and not because it was a bad name but, because she used it to remind him that this was her world. One where she made her own rules and he was just something else she used to solidify her secret identity as a secretary. Yet, he saw the opportunity for guiding the conversation back towards her machine.

"You mean to tell me, you've been typing copies of my notes all week and you don't know where I've been?" Snape scoffed.

"My job is to type what's in your notes, not add information that you _never_ address." Hermione replied indignantly.

"Ms. Jukofsky, you would think that in a project based largely on the idea of magical Hot Spots, you would want to know where the _Spots _are actually located," his lecture falling on deaf ears.

"And you would think that a person, who says they publish only quality work, would not build an entirely separate hypothesis on the crumbling foundation of an untested observation," Hermione snapped back.

"If you have a better idea on how I should continue my research, then please do tell, since you are clearly an expert now," Snape snarled.

"Yes, actually here's a novel idea you might find useful: get a goal and go from there. Your research seems to lack focus. I've seen a gold fish with a longer attention span than this current project," Hermione criticized.

"And what do you suppose I should do - just chuck everything I have off to the side? I mean, it would leave me a lot of time to begin that frantic hunt for world peace that I've been delaying," Snape replied sarcastically.

Hermione huffed in frustration, "Surely you didn't start this project saying, 'Hmmm, I think I want to make brewing Wolf's Bane Potion a fraction easier. Let me travel the world brewing the same potion over and over again comparing the slightest change in color, smell, and potency.'"

Snape took in a deep breath and gave her a look that said, _fine if you really want to know. _"I first noticed slight differences in some potions based on where I was before I began teaching at the Hogwarts. The idea stayed with me over the years and once I left, after the war, I began considering the fact it may be environmental." He explained.

"And so, your goal is to prove that it's environmental?" Hermione asked hoping he would continue from there.

He did, "Yes, but that was easy. Soon, I wanted to see what type of places affected it and how. I noticed that the fewer wizards that were around, the easier it was. If there were a lot of magical plants then, that also increased the ease and potency of a potion. So, I began marking Hot Spots and Cold Spots. I suppose that information may be good enough but, I've recently started to wonder why the number of wizards in an area affects the magical potency. Hermione, if your machine works like I think it will, this could be exactly what I need to test magical levels."

"But to what extent," Hermione asked indignantly. "More research, more books, more half backed theories?"

"I just have to know why," Snape matched her frustration. "Wizards have always assumed magic is internal but, I don't think so. I think it's external and we filter it through our bodies and our wands when we do magic."

Hermione eyes began to light up. "So, you believe it's a resource?" She clarified.

"Yes," Snape replied exasperatedly.

Hermione thought about it for a moment then said, "I think, Professor, you have found yourself a sound hypothesis and one worth researching."

The table entered into a long silence as each mulled over the previous conversation. After a few quiet moments, Hermione finally stood, clearing the table.

"What did you do?" Snape called back to her as she stood behind him in the kitchen. "After you left Hogwarts." He clarified. "I saw the wedding dress. You can skip that part if you want but, academically, what have you been up to for fourteen years."

There was another long drawn out silence before Hermione finally asked, "Would you like some tea?"

Snape took that as a good sign considering the fact she wasn't kicking him out immediately and responded affirmatively. The noise of a pot being put on the stove and water being poured traveled through the house before Hermione pulled out a tea set, leaning against the counter with a sigh, "I mostly taught actually." Snape let out a breath he had been holding, turning to look at her, hoping that he wouldn't have to work hard to encourage her to continue.

Hermione looked up and saw in his eyes that he was looking for more. She inhaled, thinking about blowing him off again but, for some reason she just knew she couldn't. She didn't feel like she owed him anything but, she felt like if there was anyone she wanted to understand her it was him. He was there listening, not because he needed something but, because he cared about her.

"I think I told you that I went to America after Hogwarts. That's where I received my education degree. I substituted mostly but, I had a lot of extra time since McGonagall's parting gift to me was the Time Turner. From there, I went to India and worked on my Masters in Biochemistry and did my research while working as a nursing assistant at one of the hospitals. Almost everything I did until I came to Bolivia was in the Muggle world. I felt like I had helped dramatically change the Wizarding world so, I felt like that a good time to change the Muggle world. I did after all belong to both." She clarified.

Snape encouraged her to continue. She turned back to her not-quite-boiling kettle, pouring the black tea into the separate cups. She handed Snape a cup and motioned for him to help himself to the milk and sugar, even though she knew fully well that he took his black. Hermione began adding milk and sugar to hers and while doing so began, "After I graduated, we traveled the back roads of Europe and after about a year, we joined the Peace Corp. We chose Uganda, where we ended up staying for six years. After I left there, I wandered for a few months before showing up here, convinced that the best way to deal with loss and pain was to ignore it completely."

"I can tell you from experience, it doesn't work that way," Snape offered.

Hermione smiled politely, "At that point, I had pretty much blocked out anyone in my life who could have passed on wisdom like that. I see that now. Hindsight is certainly 20/20. After running away from my demons for almost two years, it only took a week with you and I feel like I can almost face them."

"You did that all on your own," Snape said supportively. "Do you think you would want to address your husband that left India with you but, not Africa?" Snape asked pushing his luck.

Hermione shook her head and took a defiant sip from her tea, deciding to switch the subject, "Is it alright if I ask you a personal question?"

"That seems to be the theme of the night," Snape replied.

Hermione pressed on, "Do you keep in touch with anyone from your England days?"

Snape nodded, "Oh yes, Lucius Malfoy and I exchange Christmas cards every year. I have a picture of his grandson on my refrigerator."

Hermione stared back at him darkly, "Very funny."

Snape smiled into his tea, murmuring, "I thought so."

"Really Tobias, did you cut all ties with everyone?" Hermione asked a little antsy.

"I will answer that question, if you call me Severus. It's silly for us to be talking about our past at Hogwarts and going by names we picked to avoid those connections," Snape lectured.

Hermione huffed, "Why did you change your name anyway, _Severus_."

"Because the name Severus Snape still makes a lot of heads turn in the Wizarding world - and not in a positive way. I wanted to be able to give my name at a coffee shop without having people stop to ask a million questions or thrown down accusations," Snape explained, like he were speaking to a child but, Hermione didn't seem bothered.

"I see. Now, I return to my previous question," She said persistently.

"Minerva and I exchange owls and pleasantries twice a year on each other's birthdays. She's the only one with whom I keep in touch," Snape explained finally.

Hermione's eyes brightened at the name of her favorite teacher, "How is she?"

"You should ask her yourself. She is very worried about you. In the letter she sent in January, she asked if I had seen you in any of my travels. Apparently, Mr. Potter was very upset his last owl returned with his parcel in claw," Snape replied easily.

He could see her face twist slightly in frustration. He knew that she was longing to hear anything of her friends but, he unfortunately was not the person to ask about that. He never asked about anyone other than McGonagall when he wrote, and if she found out that he was acting as a middle man between Hermione and herself, he would find himself transfigured into a toad. He preferred his toes not webbed.

"I want to," Hermione said uncertainly, her mind rushing with ways to look in on her friends and not to burden them.

"I'm not sure avoiding your friends is healthy," he said conversationally.

"In case you haven't noticed," Hermione began, "this whole world I've created isn't healthy."

Snape smiled, "I'm just glad you said it and I didn't have to."

Hermione chuckled slightly, taking another sip of her tea. She then began again, "I've just been lying to myself for so long. I'm not even sure how to fix this."

"One step at a time but, perhaps you should get a goal and go from there. You need to find your focus," Snape parroted. "Do you want to go back to England?"

"I do miss everyone but, this is very much my home now," Hermione said after a moment of pause.

"Then it becomes merely a matter of changing your name back and telling the friends you've made here the truth," Snape responded confidently.

"Is it really that easy though?" Hermione asked skeptically.

He set down his cup, leaning forward. "How old were you when you changed your name to Diana?" Snape asked, using the tone she had used when trying to help Ivan figure out a math problem.

"Thirty-one," Hermione responded, annoyance clear on her face at being patronized.

"And how long did it take you to decide you were going to change your name to become a ghost," He continued.

"Three months," She replied monotonously.

"Hmm, three months to undo thirty-one years. And how long have you been here?"

"Almost two year," Hermione could see where this train of thought was leading.

"So, you managed to erase a 31 year old identity in three months. I think going back two years should be pretty simple in comparison. Less than a week in fact," Snape guessed.

"Five days, thereabouts," Hermione replied haughtily. "Arimancy was always my favorite subject," she replied to his stunned expression. She took advantage of his silence, "I just don't think John is going to let me continue working for him once he discovers who I really am."

"Would that be such a loss?" Snape argued.

"Well considering it's a job that allows me to pay rent, buy food, and live comfortably, then I would say so. Besides, what would I do?" Hermione questioned.

"Teach, tutor, perhaps something that you actually enjoy," Snape felt hope sneaking in. He might actually leave here at a decent hour.

Hermione was at the edges of a breakthrough but, she felt like he was on the edge of a huge bottomless pit, being encouraged to jump. The worst part was that she was actually considering it. Sitting here, talking to Snape, she couldn't remember why she had run away in the first place. She felt supported and stronger than ever. "I like things how they are?" Came her last ditch attempt.

"Reality is going you hit you sooner or later, and the further buried you are in this lie, the more it's going to hurt," Snape felt like a lawyer, wrapping up a case that he had in the bag. He could see realization sitting just inside her eyes.

Hermione looked down at her tea again, "I'm going to need a few days to decide," Hermione said with a mischievous glint in her eye. Snape sighed because at least she didn't say no.

The room was about to dip into silence again before Hermione asked, "How was your class with Nathaniel?"

"Very informative," he replied.

"And you have the rest of the children coming over this weekend?" she clarified.

"That's the plan. I am going to have to find some time to take Nathaniel off to the side again to work with him. He certainly has a gift," Snape explained.

"Don't you worry that you're showing favoritism?" Hermione asked.

Snape gave her a wicked grin, "It's never bothered me before."

"That was fine because there were other teachers to balance out your blatant preferential treatment towards Slytherin," Hermione argued.

"All the more reason for you to come and help me with the lessons," He explained.

"Then I suppose it's necessary. We wouldn't want most of the kids to be left out," Hermione sighed in resignation.

"I told Linda they could come over tomorrow evening, once they had finished all of their homework," Snape explained.

Hermione nodded, "I'll come over when you're ready." She then looked down at her lukewarm tea with a pained look on her face, as if drinking it was as bad as withstanding a Crusiatus Curse.

"If you weren't against using your wand, this would be a good moment to use a heating charm," Snape lectured.

Hermione smirked, "You're judging me."

"Am I wrong?" Snape asked.

"Yes and no. I don't like using magic when I don't have to. I like the time boiling water normally gives me to think and I enjoy getting on my hands and knees to scrub surfaces. It's a small house so, I can do it without too much trouble but, there's more to it than that. When I was at school in America, I noticed that the less I used my wand, the easier it was for me to use wandless magic, and once I created my machine I began testing a hypothesis," Hermione spoke like she was telling a suspenseful story. Snape felt himself being sucked in, mouthing, _Hypothesis. _

Hermione smiled, "When I created the Geiger Counter, I began just testing really random things. One was the difference between a spell cast with a wand and cast without. There was a large difference in magical energy used. Wandless magic used way less energy so, I began focusing on learning how to do different spells without my wand so, that I could properly compare the two."

Snape's eyes widened, "Did you find it easy to go back to wandless magic?"

"I think the best comparison would be to languages. Learning to use wandless magic would be like an English speaker learning Russian. It's easy enough to do but, you have to change how you think and learn a new alphabet," Hermione explained.

"But not everyone can learn a new language," Snape argued.

"I think they could if they have the right teacher and motivation," she defended.

"But what 11-year-old is going to want to sit down and learn magical theory?" Snape questioned.

"That's the beauty of starting young though. I imagine that a young, untrained child would be able to learn it much easier since they are going to be learning how to control something that's already there, not letting loose something they've spent years controlling," Hermione explained emphatically.

"You seemed to have put a lot of thought into this," Snape stated skeptically.

Hermione blushed, "I was actually thinking that after getting my Master's degree, I might look more into it. I was hoping that, if it tested correctly, to open a small school and teach using this curriculum, instead of a completely wand base curriculum."

"So you're not done changing the Wizarding world after all," Snape clarified.

"No, I guess not," Hermione replied with a smile.

"Hermione," Snape began but, a short glare from her made him stop briefly, "Don't give me that look. I've been addressing you like that all evening and you haven't noticed because deep down you will always be Hermione."

"Fine, you may call me that in private," Hermione said begrudgingly.

"Thank you for permission, and if you would please call me Severus under those same circumstances that would be great," Snape replied. "Back to what I was going to suggest though. What if you began testing this method on Linda's kids?"

"I'm really not comfortable testing this idea on anyone. I haven't touched this hypothesis in years and would rather not start off using my friend's children as guinea pigs," Hermione said uneasily.

"The kids would love it and I'm sure Linda would be open to it. This would be a good opportunity for you to jump feet first back into the realm of teaching and wizardry," he encouraged.

"And what would you be doing, Mr. Sure-Linda -I'll- teach-your-kids-magic," Hermione interrogated.

"It would be a beautiful partnership. I would do the research, while you did the actual teaching. Of course, I would be there to help if you needed me," Snape looked very excited at the possibilities.

"I didn't realize you were so against teaching," Hermione mentioned.

"I've always preferred research but, there was no room in Hogwarts for a full time researcher. I don't mind teaching but, not all the time and not without some aspect of research involved." he explained.

Hermione set her tea cup down, "Are we really going to do this? Am I really going to teach wandless theory?"

"It's exciting to watch your projects come into fruition," Snape replied in a very business-like tone.

"Yes, but, usually that's after testing it," Hermione argued.

"You did test it - on yourself," Hermione gave him a doubtful look. "That's more than I did with some of the potions I gave to my own students."

"Harry just assumed you wanted us all dead," Hermione joked.

"In theory, none of you should have died from testing any of those potions," Snape baited.

Hermione shot him a dark glare, "And I think about all of those times I defended you to Harry and Ron, telling them that you would never let anything bad happen to one of your students."

He threw back his head and laughed in a deep melodic tone. "Remember, Hermione, I'm a researcher. Some of the most helpful findings come from accidents in the lab."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I'll have to remember to write Harry so I can tell him I am sorry and that I was wrong. You _are _insane."

"So, you're going to contact your old friends," Snape asked victoriously.

Hermione smiled politely, "I am."

"When?" Snape asked knowing that she could put it off into infinity if she felt like it.

"Tomorrow, sometime between writing up a lesson plan for six children of varying ages and brushing up on my own magical skills," Hermione explained as if it were no big deal.

"You have a busy day ahead of you then," Snape said, setting his tea cup down and looking back at the clock, which has somehow sped past normal evening tea hours.

"Yes and so do you," Hermione said, pointing to the box that he had kept her machine in.

"Are you kicking me out?" Snape asked politely. He was beginning to feel the exhaustion as well but, he wasn't going to miss the chance to hassle her.

"I wouldn't say I'm kicking you out, as much as encouraging you to get a good night's sleep for the sake of your health. You're not as young as you use to be," she replied with a vicious glint in her eyes. Snape nodded politely, gathering his notebooks and her box and walking towards the door. "Thank you for making dinner and the pleasant conversation, Severus." Hermione said civilly.

"Any time," Snape responded with a nod. "I'll be in tomorrow, if you want to try out some of your lesson plan before the class."

"I will keep that in mind. Good night," Hermione watched him walk out.

"Good night, Hermione," Snape said, shutting the door behind him. Hermione waited until she heard him open and shut his front door, before she closed her eyes and focused on the lock. There was a chorus of snaps and clicks, as every door in her apartment locked instantly.

Feeling overwhelmed, she moved all of the dishes into the sink to clean the next day, changed her clothes and crawled into bed. There were still boxes on the floor but, she would deal with all of that in the morning. She would deal with everything in the morning. Dread began to settle slightly into the edges of her psyche but, it was driven away by one memory, one sound - a deep and melodic laugh that blended with another one from her past. She drifted to sleep and didn't open her eyes until the sun began to spill through the blinds the next day.

* * *

AN: You're in the home stretch.


	12. In Enlightenment

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter universe. I just borrow shamelessly.

* * *

The next day when Hermione's alarm went off, it didn't have a chance to beep a second time before she turned it off, rolling over. She couldn't go back to sleep. In fact, she hadn't been asleep for a while. Her mind had been racing nonstop all night, providing her very few hours of continuous sleep. However, at this point, the sun was up so, there was no point pretending that she was going to be going back to sleep, even if it was only for another hour or two.

Standing up, she stretched, considering what she was going to make herself for breakfast but, upon mentally listing her options, she found she wasn't hungry at all. She was going to be teaching again and found herself far too nervous to eat anything. Her stomach knotted and churned. She wandered instead to her closet, thinking she would pick out an outfit but, it was still a mess of boxes.

She closed her eyes and focused on levitating the boxes back up to their spots on the newly secured shelves. Yet she stopped, her eyes snapping open and staring at the boxes, like she used to stare at any challenge that presented itself to her. With a large swoop of her arms, the boxes slid out of the closet, as if they were on a conveyor belt, stopping abruptly in the middle of her floor. Without moving a muscle, they all flicked open revealing their insides. One was filled with books, another had pictures, and the rest had a mixture of notebooks, trinkets, and art work collected from her travels.

Hermione took a deep breath, kneeling by the largest box, slowly taking each picture out and looking at it with a fond smile. She picked up the books from her days at the University, thumbing through her notes and a few papers she had written.

After an hour had passed, she looked up from the context of the boxes. She had turned one of the boxes into a trash box, where she tossed a few out-dated books and some of her papers that she wouldn't be referencing ever again - which happened to be most of them. She looked around her room, noticing how impersonal and cold it was. There were no pictures, only a painting on one of the walls that she had purchased for a handful of coins at a bazaar. Hermione picked up a small picture of her and Richard on their wedding day. They both had huge smiles on their faces, as he pulled her in for a mind blowing kiss in front of the camera.

A ghost of a smiled crossed her face as she let her fingertips trail down the glass. "Richard, I miss you," Hermione said to the still frame in her hand.

She sat on her floor, sliding her back against the bed frame, and pulling her knees up to her chest. She never took her eyes off the tall and toned man in the picture. His hair was wavy brown and bounced when he laughed. When he hugged her, she felt like she could be completely pulled into him. She had always imagined that if she stayed in his arms long enough, she would cease to exist, just melting into him like a rain drop into a lake.

"You know, I tried to forget you. I thought if you didn't exist, then living without you would be easier," Hermione sighed, "but, I was wrong. I suppose that wasn't the first time though."  
"You're dead." Hermione said with finality. She twisted her face, as if she was trying to figure out a difficult Arithmancy equation, then gave a halfhearted chuckle, "but, I suppose you're well aware of that fact."

"I will never forget you but, recently I've been thinking more and more about my future. For the first time since I met you in India, I have someone in my life that I look forward to seeing every day. It's not in love but, definitely a strong like. You would like him too. He's no nonsense and his humor is as dry as the Sahara Desert. And he has a good heart. You should see the way he cares for Linda's kids." Hermione wiped her eyes on her sleeve, stopping the tears before they had a chance to fall.

"He's good for me too. He doesn't let me hide from my past or demons. He strengthens me to face them head on. Of course, I'm telling you all of this and we may just remain friends. I think I could be alright with that," Hermione added unconvincingly.

Hermione felt a warm comfort come over her as she remembered Richard holding her hand to his steadily slowing heartbeat, remembering their last moments together, "I'm ready now Richard. It's time to accept the bad with the good."

Hermione stood up and, looking around the room, summoned some nails and a hammer. With a steady hand and mind, she began fixing pictures to the walls magically and adding books to shelves.

The house became filled with heavy banging and scraping, as she rearranged and cleaned every corner. With a steady hand and mind, she began fixing pictures and artwork from the past sixteen years to the walls magically, and adding books and sculptures to shelves all throughout the house from the different places she had been.

When she was through, it was like she was in a different house and it wasn't even eight in the morning yet. Her place was still immaculate but, instead of plain walls with a few perfectly square stock photos, there were African tribal mask, brightly painted pictures of the Taj Mahal, and photos of actually her smiling. Her hair could be seen in varying lengths and her skin with varying amounts of freckles. She removed the picture of her shaking hands with Gaspard Shingleton, replacing it instead with her framed Diploma for her Master of Biochemistry, where in the same frame but, hidden, was a Bachelor of Art in Education degree.

In the last box Hermione picked up, she found it filled with things she had collected during her two years in Bosnia. She opened it and saw on top of it was a pile of wrinkled papers. The previous Christmas, Linda's children had all decided to wrap their gifts for her in their homework that they had done well on because of her help. On the top of the pile, was one lone 'B'. Ivan had argued against the teacher's grading method when he had received an 'A-' on his assignment but, instead of having his grade moved up to a 'A' like he, in Hermione's opinion, deserved, the teacher had lowered it simply to teach him the lesson that she could give whatever grade she felt as a teacher and it was not his place to argue. Hermione had never been more infuriated. The worst part was that Jacob was going to have the same teacher next year and no doubt Nathaniel and Christine would meet her in their own education.

Hermione sighed as she mulled the idea around. She wasn't just fine with teaching the kids the simple basics - she never had been. She knew what they were capable of, and she wanted to help them achieve that potential, not encourage the low standards that were set for them.

She looked at the clock. It was already ten in the morning. The day was starting to speed past her. She looked around her house, realizing that it looked nothing like it had for the last two years. The sterile walls were gone, replaced by color and personality. She took the now empty boxes out to the trash shoot, moving merrily to Linda's house.

"Diana, I was just hoping that you would be coming to see me soon," Linda said with a bright smile as Hermione walked into the kitchen.

"Tobias tells me you are going to be helping him with kids this afternoon," Linda said happily.

Hermione's eyes widened. _That was fast_, "I am. We discussed that last night. When did he tell you?"

"He was over this morning so, I invited him to join us for breakfast," Linda replied sheepishly.

Hermione laughed, "Oh, I see how it is. I'm starting to feel like the black sheep on this floor."

Linda chuckled, "He just stopped by to tell me when the kids could come over. He said he couldn't sleep because you were remodeling your apartment. Is that true?"

"It is. I couldn't sleep so, I went through some old boxes and rearranged almost everything," Hermione explained.

"And are you happy with the new set up?" Linda questioned.

Hermione nodded politely, "I barely recognize it now but, I think it feels more like home. It's a lot more pleasant."

Linda's eyes lit up, "I can't wait to see it. For a while, the only color in your house was from the kids' toys."

"I'll have you guys over for dinner soon so you can see it," Hermione offered politely.

"I look forward to it," Linda replied kindly. "So, tell me, what brings you over this morning?"

"Do I need a reason to visit a good friend?" Hermione asked abashed.

Linda laughed, "No, but I can smell an idea cooking from a mile away. You aren't here to pass time."

Hermione smiled timidly, "You caught me but, I do have an idea I would like to run by you."

"Well, get to it. I'm dying in anticipation over here," Linda replied with a wicked grin.

"I suppose I should start in the beginning though," Hermione stated. Linda put down the pot she had been scouring, giving Hermione her full attention. "Linda, I lied when I told you that I stopped teaching after I left America. Bosnia is actually the first place that I've ever lived where I didn't teach. I taught in Muggle schools but, before I came here, I had been working on a theory of how to teach young witches and wizards, a system that wouldn't require waiting until they were eleven and was fairly inexpensive in comparison to the costs of the other schools," Hermione felt excitement begin to brew more and more as she spoke about it. "I guess my question is: as a mother of six, would you be interested in something like that?"

"Diana, if you say right here and now that you wanted to take over all of my children's education, I would enroll them immediately and pay whatever you asked," at the sight of Hermione's startled face, she added, "I know what you're capable of and I would be proud for my children to learn anything they can from you. I've just been waiting for you to realize what you're capable of."

Hermione chuckled, "Will you help me then?"

"Absolutely. Just tell me what you need," Linda said, abandoning her dishes and guiding Hermione towards the table. Hermione summoned a pen and paper and began scribbling manically, as she explained her idea.

Linda asked questions that any parent would ask and the two created a thick handbook for a school covering all ages of young wizards. There were classroom sizes, a mission statement and a curriculum guide. Hermione looked at the clock and realized it was time for the kids to come in for lunch. "I'm going to take this over to S…Tobias to see what he thinks," Hermione said, hoping to cover her stutter.

"Does he have a choice?" Linda asked teasingly.

"Not entirely but, he does have a say," Hermione said, before walking quickly over to the adjacent apartment's front door. She knocked hard. Nothing. After a few seconds, she knocked again, this time louder. Again nothing. She considered knocking a third time but, her knuckles protested and she realized he was probably sitting on the back porch. She walked over to her apartment and onto the back porch. Sure enough, sitting with a book in his lap and his eyes closed, listening keenly to the wind blowing through the wind chimes, Snape had not heard her knock.

"I have an idea," Hermione said excitedly, as she walked out on the porch.

"You're remarkably chipper for someone who was drilling holes in the wall at seven in the morning," Snape replied with a glower and one eye open.

"I'm sorry. I just assumed you would be up already," Hermione replied brightly.

"What part of 'Bat of the Dungeons' makes you think that I would be a morning person?" Snape continued with his customary scowl.

"If you're so tired, then take a nap," Hermione replied hotly.

"I am a man, Hermione, not an infant who needs to be put to rest whenever I'm cranky," he countered.

Hermione rolled her eyes. There were so many things she could say to that, and yet, all she wanted to do was tell him her ideas for the school. "Severus, I have something to show you. Will you please look?" She tried pleading.

Snape shot her a look that said how incredibly inconvenient she was being but, extended his hand for her to give him the papers anyway. Unfortunately, he was out of reach. He looked up at her, implying that she should simply jump the gap between the two porches so that he wouldn't have to move to get the papers.

"You've got to be kidding. Just because you like to leap our patios in a single bound, doesn't mean it's my favorite form of transportation," Hermione replied indignantly.

"That's fine. Walk around like an unadventurous old maid and use the door then. I'll be here," Snape closed his eyes again and continued his relaxing afternoon, as if she wasn't there.

Hermione huffed indignantly, walking to the door but, before entering, she turned getting a running start and hoisting herself onto the ledge of the of the metal guard rail. It had apparently sprinkled while she was inside and her shoes provided very little support so, she lost her grip, falling and banging her knee against Snape's patio floor in her attempt to brace herself. There was a quick yelp, as she tumbled towards the ground. At the commotion, Snape's eyes flashed open as he instinctively ran to the edge of the patio, his wand out and a spell already lighting its end but, when he looked over the edge of the railing, she was gone.

He searched frantically wondering if she had disapperated or maybe hanging on to one of the three railing below them but, there was nothing. He turned back to his patio and sitting in his chair was a small brown nightingale, standing on a stack of papers. As he stared at it for a moment and it stared back, realization set in and he breathed a sigh of relief. He appraised the bird silently, noticing that on its cream stomach was a small, yet discernible pattern of some sort.

"A song bird - that's your animagus form," Snape finally said judgmentally.

The bird scowled but, then began to grow into a flustered and irritated Hermione. "Well, we can't all turn into a plume of smoke and fly around like Superman," she quipped.

He gave her an odd look, "I assume you're referencing some Muggle superhero."

"Yes. If you had managed any semblance of a childhood, you would know who I was talking about," Hermione quipped.

Snape's face flashed back to a look of seriousness, "No, you are right. It is a very fitting animagus form, small and annoying."

Hermione huffed, closing the gap between them. Slamming the pile of papers into his chest, "Just read the damn papers."

Snape took the skewed pile of papers, skimming them, confused at first but, then realization began to settle in. He flipped to the next page and then the next, all the while starting to look more and more overwhelmed. "I did not sign up for this," Snape muttered to himself, as he continued reading all of the pages.

He read quickly, soon looking up at Hermione, "No, absolutely not. I told you I preferred research. You are going to need several full time teachers to complete this plan." Snape replied doubtfully.

"Not right away," Hermione defended, "I would just need you to step in a little with the kids."

"Hermione, you've moved well past the realm of tutoring here. You are talking about rebuilding a school system on nothing. How do you expect for this to be financeds? The Bosnian Ministry can't afford to subsidize a school, like the Great Britain Ministry can," Snape argued.

"But, say I could work out the finances," Hermione argued, "Think long term, Severus. Bosnia's witch and wizard population is exploding, and we could do this. It could sustain itself after a while."

"Hermione, you are expecting the parents to change their entire thinking on how their children should be educated, and accept a system that is completely different from anything they know," Snape said with a sigh.

"I think they're ready," Hermione said quietly.

"Who? Who have you talked to that is ready for something like this, other than the six kids next door?"

Snape's words cut directly through Hermione, deflating her exceptional mood. She stood very still, staring at him with nothing to say.

Snape sighed, "Let's just make it through the lesson tonight. If it goes well, I think it would be fair to discuss the possibility of growing into something more elaborate, but it's going to be a slow process." He looked back at the papers in his hand, "You also are going to need a good idea on how to finance this _before _you get anyone else involved as well." He thought about how when he brought it up last night, he had been hoping this would help her deal with her past but, it seemed like all he had done was give her another distraction and she was jumping at it like a lifeboat.

"What if I could find donors?" Hermione replied simply.

"That's a start but, should you really be planning this all on your own? Is Diana Jukofsky any good at dealing with large amounts of money?" Snape asked in his best teaching voice.

"Not particularly. Diana Jukofsky has just enough to cover her bills and put a bit into savings," Hermione offered but, before Snape could else anything else, she began again, "However, Hermione Cayer is quite well off and good at fundraising." She said shyly.

_Cayer, _Snape mouthed. Hermione nodded, answering his implied question, "My married name."

His eyes widened, really _looking _at her for the first time that afternoon. She had begun to reconcile her past and he could see it now in her eyes. She stood straighter, surer, and she seemed more complete. "I see you've had a very busy morning."

Hermione blushed, "It was rather enlightening."

"In the midst of creating an entire school system, have you thought any more on how we are going to teach five rambunctious children to control magic that the world around them says doesn't exist?" Snape asked as Hermione walked across the patio, leaning against the railing.

"I've been thinking about keeping it simple and just having them stop moving objects for now," Hermione offered.

"That would be good. Though I'm slightly surprised that you are not suggesting we sit them down and force feed them theory," Snape joked lightly.

"That was going to be next week's lesson. This will be a good way to see how they learn so that, as we increase the difficulties of the lesson, we can adjust our teaching style to each child," Hermione explained feeling the inklings of excitement once more.

"I'm glad that you're finding your college degree so helpful. However, I might suggest, from a more experience position, that creating an individualized lesson plan for each student can be daunting and overwhelming, especially if you have plans to expand outside of this apartment complex," Snape explained.

"But that's alright for now, since we only have five students once a week - a lesson plan per day and Sundays off," Hermione was looking up as she calculated mentally.

"We? There's been a lot of that going on in this conversation and I would like to remind you again that I'm only going to help with the classes, and maybe take notes if you're lucky," Snape replied haughtily.

"And I would like to remind you that EVERYTHING about this situation can be traced back to you. You asked Linda if you could spend time teaching the kids. You encouraged me to look back at my past, asking me to reconsider my ambitions. You know, as well as I do that, regardless of what you are saying right here and right now, you won't be able to give up chance to give them a good education. I saw the look on your face when Linda said her kids probably wouldn't be able to go to a secondary Wizarding school. You are no more capable walking away from these kids than I am of going back to taking notes for men who think that a self-stirring cauldron is more efficient than a locomotion charm," Hermione argued.

Snape opened his mouth in rebuttal but, the sliding glass door opened on Linda's patio to their left with Sarah coming into view, "Mom wanted me to invite you over for lunch. We're having chevap."

Snape shook his head, "I've already intruded on you hospitality today but, thank you. I'll eat at home this afternoon."

Hermione shook her head as well, "I have left overs but, tell your mom thank you for me."

Sarah nodded, staring at the scene before her as if she were watching two animals in a cage at the zoo. "Ms. Jukofsky, what happened to your knee?" She asked after a moment of hesitation.

Hermione and Snape both looked at her knee as if they were completely surprised that the appendage was there, and even more surprised to find blood trailing down her leg, pooling in her sandal. "Oh, I guess I cut it while I was hopping over the banister," Hermione mentioned, then looking over at Sarah she added, "This is just proof as to why it's dangerous and you shouldn't do something like that."

Sarah was clearly ignoring her warning, "Do you need me to grab the first aid kit?"

"No," Hermione said quickly. "Don't bother your mom. I'll fix it."

She leaned over, placing her hands on either side of the gash. For a moment it bled heavier, until the few pieces of concrete that were lodged in the cut were gone. She then closed the wound and vanished the blood from her leg, sandal and the few spots that had fallen on to the floor.

"Woah," Sarah said from her place, staring through the bars.

"See you in a few hours," Hermione said dismissively. Sarah nodded excitedly, running back into the house, no doubt to tell her family and friends about what she had just seen.

The patio was quiet for a few minutes before Snape looked at Hermione and said seriously, "Will you teach me?"

"Wandless magic?" Hermione looked at him with a chuckle.

"What is so funny?" Snape asked sounding a little wounded.

"You're a Legilimens, Occlumens _and_ you can fly, none of which is necessarily simple. I'm just surprised you never taught yourself how to do magic without a wand," Hermione explained.

"When you always have a wand, you never think that you're going to have to learn to do spells without it," Snape explained.

Hermione stepped up to Snape, looking around the patio. "Pick an item. I'm going make it levitate and you have to force is down," She explained.

Snape eyed the sparsely populated deck, saying, "The chair."

Hermione lifted the chair a foot off the ground, while never taking her eyes of the object. She began, "When you use a wand to cast a spell, the spell will go straight, like a bullet. The wand will do what you tell it to do, without any thought about conserving your energy or its. When you ask your wand to levitate this chair, it's going to take the chair, picking it up and holding it in the air until you're too tired to continue. However, with wandless magic, you create, not only the action but, also the path through which the magic flows. So, when you asked me to lift this chair, I had to ask myself what way would be the best way to make this chair levitate. I could use the wind to lift it or, like with Wingardium Leviosa, magically muscle the chair off of the ground but, I decided instead since it was the metal, to change the polarization on the floor to make it repel the chair, where I could increase and decrease the strength as needed."

Snape focused his eyes on the chair and Hermione could feel him magically trying to strong arm the chair back to the ground. "Try the path of least resistance, Professor Snape," Hermione reminded him.

Snape looked around, focusing on moving the wind around the chair to force it down but, the chair only swayed slightly in place. "When dealing with wandless magic, Professor, you have to find out what parts of the item are being affected. Doing so is a lot like Legilimency. You have to look in the right places but, it's slightly easier because a chair doesn't have the will to push you out of its mind."

Snape growled in frustration. He focused on the metal of the chair. He pictured the chair in his mind and began trying to feel around the chair for her spell that was keeping it in the air. After a few moments, he began to recognize his search as its own type of magic. It was like he was producing a searching spell that was interacting with the parts of the chair that were being affected by Hermione's spell.

"Close your eyes," Hermione offered. "It will be easier to see the interactions without the distractions of the physical eye."

Snape grumbled something about Trelawny but, closed his eyes anyway, focusing on the magical properties of the chair and the area around it. Finally, he saw that, on the floor below, Hermione was indeed using a transfiguration spell to change the properties of the concrete to reverse the polarity that was repelling the chair. Snape tried transfiguring the concrete back to its original polarity but, he couldn't transfigure the entire spot all at once. It was like a magical arm wrestling match and Hermione had far more practice. At one point in his frustration, Snape only strengthened her spell, causing the chair to shoot straight up in the air. Hermione stopped it from hitting the patio above them, settling it back to a foot above the ground.

"You're still trying to fight it. This spell works for me but, it may not be what is easiest for you. You only need to get the chair back on the ground," Hermione lectured.

Snape closed his eyes, focusing. Using everything he learned from Legilimency, he looked at the area around him. It was like looking through a pair of infrared glasses. He could see the magic moving, interacting around him. He could see the connections, and he heard Hermione's voice, _use the path of least resistance._ Snape finally noticed that the spell she was using involved constant observation so, in essence, he just had to distract her. His mind raced with ideas and plots.

He felt like a first year again, holding his wand for the first time, being allowed to use it. He could do anything. He considered setting a fire to the hem of her pants, just like she had to him during her first year but, that just seemed cruel. He could use a tickle spell but, she may not be ticklish. He wondered if he could just use Legilimency and force her attention off the chair and onto something else but, even then, it seemed wrong to try and invade her mind in the interest of getting her to set a chair down. Yet, she was the one who had issued the challenge. Surely, she didn't think he would just give up that easily.

Suddenly an idea struck him, and with his mind running purely on instincts, without even a second though, he turned to her, his dark eyes connecting with hers unblinkingly. Before she could even register what was happening, he stood up from his chair and took two long strides, standing directly in front of her with more grace and speed than she thought possible. He buried his long fingers into her hair, cupping her face and pressing his lips to hers. The chair crashed to the ground behind him, as her mind went blank and she stiffened in shock. However, it wasn't long before she gave in, her eyelids fluttering closed and her mouth moving in time with his. Her hands grasped the rails behind her until her knuckles were white, supporting her weight in case her knees couldn't.

Snape pulled back, resting his forehead on hers, his deep breaths mingling between them, while his fingers still wrapped around her neck. Hermione stared back, surprised and winded. "Severus," she whispered huskily.

Staring straight into his eyes, Hermione knew the exact moment realization came to him. Snape felt a mild panic begin to settle in his stomach, causing him to remove his hand from her face and take a giant step backwards, while mentally scolding himself. _What have I done?_ Still, before he could get too far, Hermione confidently took over, as one of her hands reached out, finding its way to his jacket lapel, refusing to let him move any further. She stepped forward closing the gap between them once again, until her lips were hovering back over his. Looking him directly in the eyes, she said, "I believe I owe you a response." Lifting onto her toes to make up for the height difference, she captured his lips softly, molding to them. His right hand instinctively rose back to the side of her face, fingers relaxing against the back of her neck, while his other hand found its way to her hip, holding her tightly in place. Hermione kept her one hand flat against his chest, feeling his heartbeat race wildly underneath her fingers, and her other holding onto his shoulder for balance.

After a few moments, Hermione pulled back, her head dizzy with desire. One thought, though, brought her crashing back to reality, "Was it just to get me to drop the chair?"

Snape didn't let her go, holding her to him. "Yes," he stated plainly, "but, had any other woman put me in that situation, I would not have kissed her the first time, much less the second."

Hermione was still reeling from the kiss, as tried to settle her emotions. Snape stepped back just enough so he could truly look at her, "Do you think you could ever find it in your heart to forgive me?" He asked her in mock concern, knowing that she had enjoyed that moment just as much as him, because, even if she wasn't willing to say it out loud, it was written all over her face.

Hermione looked up at him, finding a devious grin that had taken over, like a cat that had finally caught the canary. She had an overwhelming urge to slap it off his face but, she also felt like if she let go, she wouldn't be able to stand. "You're going to be trouble for me, aren't you?" Hermione asked, her own grin beginning to mirror his.

Snape raised an eyebrow, "I think I owe you a good seven years of trouble and then we can _maybe_ call it even."

Hermione leaned forward, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "You're on."

Snape bent his head down to claim her lips one more time but, there was a sudden chorus of giggles causing Hermione and Snape to shoot apart. All six of Linda's kids had pressed their faces to the large door on their own patio. Hermione was steadying herself by holding tightly to the railing, stopping her weak knees from giving out on her, while Snape quickly busied himself with picking up the chair that lying on the ground.

"Hey kids," Hermione waved in her most forced chipper voice.

"How long have you guys been standing there?" Snape asked, not sounding nearly as thrilled, as the kids shuffled onto the porch.

"We were watching Ms. Jukofsky teach you how to use magic," Chrinstine said happily.

Hermione's faced turned bright red, as she looked away from them towards the horizon. Nathaniel and Christine seemed quite happy at having just seen magic but, the older kids looked very mischievous. "So, basically the whole time," Emily clarified with an impish grin.

Snape walked over to them, leaning forward over the railing separating the two porches, "And did you learn anything interesting?" He asked.

"Who is severe?" Christine asked.

"I am. I'm feeling quite severe and disappointed in all of you for spying," Snape covered as best as he could.

Hermione had finally found her legs, joining Snape on the opposite railing. Sarah pointed to Hermione's leg and tapped Jacob's shoulder, "See? I told you it was completely healed."

"It probably wasn't as bad as you say. I think you were over exaggerating," Jacob replied, taking a closer look at the perfectly healed knee.

Hermione stepped to Sarah's defense, "I think it was a pretty big mess."

"Show me," Jacob replied flatly.

Hermione was about to begin a tirade on trust, when Snape stopped her. "I'll show you what I saw," Snape offered, and a second later Jacob's eyes glazed over. Hermione reached over punching Snape in the arm, "Stop!"

Once the images had played though, Jacob looked impressed and annoyed all at once. Snape moved into teaching mode, "That was called Legilimency. It's a form of magic where the Legilimens can read another person's thoughts or they can place their own thoughts into that person's mind."

All of the children's eyes widened followed by a chorus of, "Do me!"

"I'd rather not have Ms. Jukofsky punch me again," Snape explained.

All the kids looked pleadingly at Hermione for her permission. "As long as you give him permission, it's fine. Using Legilimency on someone without their permission is rude and an invasion of privacy," Hermione preached.

"It's okay," they all agreed at once and Snape when through showing them each the memory of Hermione healing her cut leg.

"When do we get to learn that?" Ivan asked after his turn.

"When you've mastered Occlumency," Snape explained.

"What is that?" Nathaniel asked.

"It's the ability to keep a Legilimens out of your head," Snape described. "You have to learn how to defend yourself, before you try to attack."

"What other types of wizards are there?" Emily asked, as Linda joined them on the patio.

"Well, let's see. There are Metamorphmagus, who can change their appearances at will. Parselmouths, who can talk to snakes. You have to be born with those skills, though. There are Arithmancers, who are experts at reading the the magic of numbers. Animagus, who can transform into animals. Your dear, Ms. Jukofsky, is a talented Animagus," Snape offered.

Immediately all of the kids looked at her, pleading for her to show them. Hermione shot Snape a nasty glare, before twisting down into the small bird, flapping her wings next to Snape's head. She flew around them and whistled contently, hopping from shoulder to shoulder, and allowing the kids to pet her and examine her wings. They Ooo-ed and Ah-ed in unison. Hermione then hopped back to the balcony railing and transformed back into her normal self.

"When can we learn that?" They all began asking, amazed.

Hermione smiled, "I learned to do that when I was 18 and it took me years to figure out. Becoming an Animagus is something that you have to teach yourself over a very long period of time."

"What are we going to learn today?" Sarah asked excitement pouring from her normally calm personality.

"We're going to keep it simple but, you'll have to wait until you come over to find out," Hermione explained.

Nathaniel looked up at Snape, "Mr. Prince, I thought you were going to be teaching us?"

Snape smirked, "I passed the buck but, don't worry, I'll be there to make sure she doesn't teach you incorrectly."

"I think it's time to head into the house and finish your chores," Linda said to the group, ignoring the chorus of complaints that followed. All six trouped into the house while Linda walked up, giving Hermione and Snape an appraising look.

"Tobias, what did you think about Diana's proposal for a school?" She asked the two who looked very guilty standing next to each other.

"I thought it could use a little more follow-through. However, I also thought the premise was very good and a definite possibility," Snape explained.

Linda nodded, "Diana, that was some wonderful flying you did there. I didn't know you were an Animagus. Since you were 18, huh?"

Hermione nodded, "It was something I picked up preparing for the war," she explained.

"The war from your stories?" Linda clarified. "I knew you had to be The Bright Princess!"

"And were you ever in those stories, Mr. Prince? The Lord of Wolves, perhaps?" Linda asked feeling quite confident.

"The Dark Prince of Snakes actually. It's a pleasure to meet you," Snape replied cordially. Linda's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that. He reached his hand across, "but, those who knew me back then called me Severus."

Linda took his hand, shaking it in a trance. "You...You were The Dark Prince?" She stuttered.

"Yes, I found that to those who are well versed in the war in England. Tobias Prince is far less daunting." Snape

"Diana, did you change your name as well?" Linda looked as if she didn't want it to be true.

"It was Hermione Granger but, when I married it became Hermione Cayer," Hermione replied carefully.

"More lies," Linda stated trying to take it all in, while standing on her porch, as she came to realize that everything she had known about her neighbor could have easily been completely fabricated and she would have never known any better.

"I know it probably wouldn't make this moment any easier but, I was telling myself the same lies desperately wanting to believe them as truth," Hermione explained.

"What am I supposed to tell the children?" Linda asked, still shell shocked.

"The truth would probably be best," Snape chimed in "Just tell them in the form of a story. Start from when The Princess leaves and until she shows up here in Bosnia. The same can be done with The Dark Prince. Then tell them it's all true, that we're The Prince and The Princess."

Linda nodded, "I hope they take it well."

"I think they will. I'm not emotionally invested in this whole mess of lies therefore, I am free to think rationally," Snape explained arrogantly. Hermione simply rolled her eyes.

"Linda, do you think you can forgive me for lying to you all this time, even if it means we'll have to redo every conversation?" Hermione asked hesitantly, not really sure where she stood with the only woman she could truly call her friend.

"Of course, I can," Linda said, as if that was the most foolish question she had ever heard. "I guess I just need to know what you want me to call you."

"Whatever is easiest for you. I'll always answer to either Hermione or Diana so, it doesn't really matter at this point," Hermione explained. "Although, it's a safe bet that Severus and I will be calling each other by our given names."

Linda gasped, as she just realized something, "What are you going to tell John Taylor?"

"He'll be getting the truth, as well," Hermione said reluctantly.

"Do he think he'll let you keep the job?" Linda questioned.

"Just long enough to find another one, I'm sure. I think at this point though, I should be looking for tutoring jobs anyway. If we're going to do this, it's probably best to do it right," Hermione mentioned thoughtfully.

"Do you think you are going to have a hard time finding students to attend the school?" Linda asked.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak but, before she could say anything, Snape interrupted, "She hasn't thought that far ahead yet."

Hermione gave him a surprised look but, didn't deny his claim. "You still have my support. You both do," Linda clarified.

"Thanks Linda," Hermione and Snape both said at the same time.

"Alright, I'm going to go start dinner and work on processing everything I just learned. You are both welcomed to join us," Linda added.

"Thank you but, I still owe Severus a home cooked meal," Hermione said, looking at Snape with a grin.

Linda nodded, appearing slightly relieved, as she walked back into the house. She couldn't think of how she was going to make it through a meal with the kids and not immediately give away their secrets. Once the glass door slid closed, Snape turned to Hermione, "So, you just decided you were going to make me dinner?"

"You make it seem like such an accidental idea, when in reality I had given it much more thought. Really, any excuse to invade your personal space and use your food seems great to me," Hermione smirked.

"I suppose that would only be fair," Snape resigned. Hermione smiled, heading towards the door. "You're going to start cooking now?"

"Unlike you, I've never been in your house so, I need time to acquaint myself with how you arrange things," Hermione replied coyly.

"And by that you mean you need time to go through my things to see what kind of person I am," Snape drawled, following closely behind her into the house.

"You caught me. You can tell a lot by a man by the way he arranges his spice rack," Hermione chuckled, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Woman, you are out of your mind," Snape growled, as the glass door slid shut behind them.

* * *

AN: For those of you who have been with me since the begining. You may notice some differences. For instance: This chapter and chapter 11 have been completely rewritten. Thanks to my beta for incouraging me through that difficult decision.


	13. In Her Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter universe. I just borrow shamelessly.

* * *

It hadn't taken long for Hermione to find her way around Snape's kitchen. It was pretty straight forward, like the man himself, and while she had made sure to keep a lot of western European foods in stock, Snape had only local cuisine favorites in his kitchen. After weighing her options, Hermione finally decided that she couldn't go wrong with baked trout and roasted potatoes. Snape pulled a chair up to the other side of the kitchen counter, observing as she swept around his kitchen with a calming ease.

He mused about how he had spent so much of his time this week watching her, studying her movements. He had watched her grow from a mousy secretary to a confident young woman, who could simply walk into his space and take command, as if she had just as much of a right to be there as he did. He also thought about that kiss. It was safe to say he no longer saw her as his student, and if he was honest with himself, he hadn't in a long time.

For a moment he worried that he would be caught appraising her but, one glance at her own distant features assured him he was in good company. Her own eyes were distracted by something other than the spices and seasoning she had laid out before her. She would occasionally glance his way with an apprehensive look but, never once did she seem to register that he was staring back at her.

"You've had a busy week," Snape stated, as she placed the seasoned vegetables into the oven. Hermione gave him a questioning look, startled to be pulled out of her reverie. "A little more than a week ago, I showed up, and since then, you've come to terms with your past and completely rearranged your future."

Hermione chuckled, "Well, all of that has been on my to-do list for years - right after 'find a boyfriend and get laid.'"

Snape's eyes widened, uncertainty passing across his deep black eyes.

They passed into an uncomfortable silence, with Hermione moving carefully around the kitchen, while Snape flipped through a copy of the Quibbler that was sitting on his counter along with some mail that hadn't been opened yet.

Snape scoffed loudly at one point, as he stopped mindlessly flipping through the pages and began to give his full attention to an article. "Anyone we know?" Hermione asked him, as she easily chopped some fruit for dessert.

"Yes, you and me." Snape began to read the article, "It seems Xenophilius has made it his personal mission to, and I quote, 'not allow those, who have served us so valiantly in the war against Voldemort, to disappear completely from world view. They deserve to be honored faithfully as heroes who will never be forgotten. And let us not forget the several young men and women who were not honored in the Daily Prophet because they were not of age to fight but, did not hesitate to lay down their lives for their when the call came. A handful of witches and wizards also went missing soon after the war ended but, despite this our steadfast Ministry has not made any effort to find them. Two of the most familiar in this category include the legendary Hermione Granger and Severus Snape, who after leaving the Wizarding world after the final hearings, did not come back for any of the celebrations. Neither has been heard from in many years, an unacceptable end for the young woman and man, who were instrumental in helping Harry Potter, The Chosen One, defend Hogwarts and capture many Death Eaters, ensuring the freedom of innocent wizards. I ask that anyone that has _any_ information on either of the two wizards to not let the information lay in waste. They deserve every ounce of respect that we can give them, as we enjoy the peace that their sacrifices bought for us.'" Snape finished, flipping the magazine so that Hermione could see a picture of Hermione handing him the file in his hearing. Her manor was completely professional and Snape looked like someone was twisting his arm to take it.

"That's a great picture of us," She commented happily.

Snape sneered, taking the magazine back and continuing to flip through the rest of the pages with a little more interest as they settled again back into silence. Before the end of the hour Hermione had pulled the fish out of the oven, along with the roasted potatoes. She had cooked some stringed peas on the stove and the fruit dessert was chilling in the refrigerator.

Snape got up from his place at the counter, setting the small table that occupied his apartment and barely had room for four people with nothing else. When he was done, he pulled two wine glasses out of the cupboard, opening a bottle of wine that was sitting on the counter and pouring a half glass for each of them. He offered Hermione hers, while expertly sipping his own.

After serving themselves from the kitchen and walking over to the table, Hermione asked conversationally, "So, what did you envision when you asked Linda if you could teach her kids about magic?"

Snape thought for a moment, replying, "When I was Headmaster, The Dark Lord demanded that I infuse his thoughts and ideals into every aspect of the school so, all of the sudden, every class had some connection to The Dark Arts. Quidditch wasn't just Quidditch anymore. There were dueling aspects infused into it and students were taught not to trust anyone but themselves," Snape described.

"That sounds horrible," Hermione interjected.

"I hated it. Every time I looked around the school, I felt disgusted with myself for what I had allowed it to become. Hogwarts had been my haven for so many years and I had always hoped that I would be able to keep Dumbledore's legacy alive after his death. But, the day he came to me, making me promise to kill him, I knew in that I would be the one to destroy his legacy instead, leaving someone else to rebuild it," he commented.

"Maybe you were supposed to create your own legacy," She suggested.

Snape shrugged noncommittally, "I suppose it's possible."

"So, then is this the real reason you asked to teach Linda's kids?" Hermione questioned in light of the new information she had.

"In all of that darkness, something good did come out of it. I saw that Hogwarts teachers had never really been on the same page and I don't mean that as a slight against any of them but I felt like, we were so focused on teaching our subject that we ignored the fact that so many of our subjects shared theories, relying heavily on one another. A true Potions Master has to have a really firm grasp on Herbology, Charms, and even Arithmancy to control a volatile potion. Likewise, an Arithmancer who has no grasp of Ancient Runes and Divinations will always find their numbers lacking. Now, add to this your theory of magic and one would have to study Arithmancy and top it off with Muggle Chemistry, in order to truly observe how young wizards aren't just making things move, but creating physical reactions without knowing it," Snape annotated.

Hermione looked at him, saying in a triumphant voice, "Do you see now why it is important that we open this school."

"The moment you mentioned it, I knew you were right. It was something that had to be done but, there are so many practical issues that need to be worked out in order for this to become a reality," Snape replied, sounding uncertain that she really understood what she was getting herself into.

"Severus, a year or two after I married Richard, we entered the Peace Corp. They loved us, not because we were in for the long haul but, because they would send us somewhere and instead of just join the ongoing efforts, we would create them. He and I would train the personnel, make calls to find funding, and build an entire medical or educational compound in the middle of a small, remote city in Africa. Trust me when I tell you, I know exactly what I'm getting myself into and I'm confident that within ten years we can have a self-sustaining school," Hermione explained.

"So, in the process of building these places from nothing, what was your roll? Or did you do a little bit everything?" Snape question coldly.

"Richard and I worked as a team but, we each had our own skill set. I was better at marketing and finding the funding, where he was good at spending money without wasting it. He preferred working with the adults, while I preferred working with the kids," Hermione explained.

"Sounds like you two were perfect for each other," Snape replied dryly.

Hermione ignored his tone, "We worked on it hard at it because that's what you do in a relationship. You build it from the ground up and work on it every day."

"So, where is he now?" Snape asked as disinterested as possible. He had enough information to make an educated guess but, this was a case where he was going to make her do all of the work.

"He's buried in his family's plot in Nebraska," Hermione replied. Snape noticed that when she was discussing something difficult, like this, she was distant from the conversation. Her eyes would become foggy, as if she had moved outside of herself to give a completely objective answer in an attempt at self-preservation.

"Can I ask how he died?" Snape put the question out there to see what would happen.

Hermione eyes unfocused, her voice lacking its usual lilt, "In Africa. We were working in a village in Uganda, setting up a medical facility, when it was attacked by the Lord's Resistance Army. We were such a small village that they took over us easily." Here, her eyes began to come back to life as her voice quivered. "And Richard. He..." She shuddered to a stop.

"Hermione," Snape said after a quiet moment where Hermione did everything to compose herself. "Tell me Richard's story."

She looked up at him, confused and skeptical. He didn't have to use Legilimency to know what she was thinking. _What would you gain from me telling this story?_ "It would help me understand you better, to see where you're coming from."

Hermione sighed, sounding almost defeated, her eyes flickering between an engaged and disassociated look. Finally, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and looking up with determination in her piercing chocolate brown eyes, "What if I showed you instead?"

Snape looked at her in shock, "Show me?"

"It would be like a tour of my memories. I'll guide you through them," Hermione explained. "If you use Legilimency to enter into my mind, then I use my Occlumency to show you only what I want," Hermione replied as if she had come up with a great compromise.

Snape nodded his silent agreement before looking directly into her eyes, slipping past her first line of defense. He had entered a large domed room with nothing but darkness. From a distant corner, a light approached him, coming closer until he could make out Hermione. She smiled, "Well, you remember that I left Hogawarts and went to school in America? After that, I left for India to work on a Master's degree in Biochemistry. I used my Time Turner all through my school years, so I could finish multiple degrees quickly. To be honest, I'm not sure what I was thinking. It was as if I thought the only time in my life that mattered would be the time I spent working. I was so naive." Hermione looked down, shaking her head, and Snape couldn't help but, silently agree with her. For someone who had tried to block out large portions of her life, he was also quite impressed by how insightful she was into her own thoughts.

"My second year, I had an internship at a Hospitals in New Delhi. It was the first time I had ever seen real poverty, the kind that makes your heart break on a daily basis because people don't have simple things like clean water. The dome above them shifted into a busy waiting room. There were people everywhere and it was so noisy that Snape worried he would have to lean closer to her in order to hear. The waiting room was packed with children coughing and sputtering and in a corner, kneeling before a small child in a white lab coat, was a tall burly man who looked like he would rip his jacket if he flexed his arms any more. Hermione pointed over to him, "That's Richard." She said with a slightly dreamy voice. _Great, another Viktor Krum, _Snape groaned to himself, irritated by his own juvenile reaction.

Hermione from the memory stepped past them, stopping within ear shot to watch the interaction, as Richard finished cleaning the boy's wound, sticking a superhero band-aid on it.

"You've been such a great sport for waiting," he said in Punjabi to the boy who rested his head on his mother's arm. The boy smiled. "And since you've been so good I'm going to give you…"

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a plump, red apple. The boy's face lit up as he grabbed it hungrily and thanked him fervently. The mother smiled weakly. Looked at the mother, Hermione noticed that she was severely dehydrated. She went behind the desk, into the small refrigerator that the nurses used, and took two bottles of out, walking over and handing them to her. Her eyes lit up as she looked between the two, "Thank you," she croaked out, before beginning to cry.

"We're sorry for the wait," Hermione said, as she walked back to the center desk and continued what she was doing.

The scene switched to Hermione sitting at a table reading her one of her textbook. Richard walked up to her with a dashing smiled and asked, "Is anyone sitting here?"

"No," she replied, moving some papers out of the way that had crossed over the half-way point on the table.

"You look thirsty," he stated offering her an extra bottle of water and setting a sandwich on the table.

She smiled and accepted the water. "Not much of a meal," she said nodding towards his tomato and cheese sandwich. He simply shrugged in reply. Hermione slid the other half of her orange over to him. He accepted it and the two continued to eat in silence.

Hermione finished her meal, standing up to throw away her garbage.

"Ms. Granger," he said as she headed over to the trashcan.

She looked down at his name badge, "Yes, Dr. Cayer?"

"Would you like to have lunch together again tomorrow?" He inquired.

Hermione nodded in affirmation, "I would like that very much." Snape grumbled inwardly, _Am I going to have to go through their entire courtship?_

Hermione seemed to have heard him because she said, "I won't force you to go through every date. It's hard really to tell when we stopped being friends and when we started dating. I guess this next memory might have been a turning point. It was a several months after we met. I was studying, while Richard was looking up some information about a particular case." The room began to twist again, this time into a large library.

A police officer approached her. When he asked her to step outside for a moment, Hermione followed, leaving her books and bag with Richard.

Once outside, he told her that they had just received a notice that both of her parents had died in a plane crash on their way up to see her. She stood still for a few moments, until Richard came down, his bag bulging with both of their book stacks.

"Hermione," he said softly and rested his hand on her shoulder, bringing her out of the trance.

"Why?" Hermione asked, as he touched her.

"I haven't been home in years and I haven't called in weeks," Hermione said, her anger slowly rising at the realization.

Richard, with a confused look on his face, opened his mouth to say something but, before he could, she took off running. Without hesitation, Richard took off after her, staying close behind her as she blazed across campus, refusing to stop until she reached her room on the fourth floor.

Snape found himself very happy that he only had to stand back and watch the memory unfold, as he observed Richard gasping for air behind Hermione.

Hermione explained, "I just remember thinking over and over again, _If only I could go back in time and tell them not to come visit_."

Snape looked away from the memory, which was speeding by, making him dizzy. Her eyes were darkened by the thought and a tiny tear pooled at the edge of her eye. "Accepting death doesn't get easier with practice," Snape replied.

Hermione looked at him with a faint smile, "Remember that and try not to judge me later," Hermione stated, as she redirected him back to the memory.

Hermione ran into apartment, practically taking down the door, and began digging frantically through an old box. As she dug Richard walked in dumping his heavy bag on the floor. Snape could tell that he was torn between comforting her and letting her ransack an overstuffed box. After one pass through without finding what she was looking for, Hermione let out a frustrated wail, tossing things onto the floor. Snape immediately recognized that many of the items she had been pulling out were from Hogwarts: worn copy of_ Hogwarts a History_, her potions notebook, several old textbooks, including _Advanced Potion Making_ and _Confronting the Faceless_, and finally she pulled out two small, velvet jewelry boxes. She sat back on her heals, opening the first box to reveal her Order of Merlin First Class. She tossed it off to the side, without a second thought, as it landed dangerously close to the trashcan. She opened the other box and Snape identified the hour glass necklace in the box, and it appeared that Richard did as well and seemed so shocked it took him a moment to react. As Hermione was frantically trying to unknot the chain, so she could slip it over her head, Richard came to his senses leaping forward to stop her.

"Hermione, no!" He exclaimed, roughly grabbing the necklace and wrapping his arms around her to restrain her. "Magic isn't going to save your parents."

"I don't need magic," Hermione bellowed, fighting back fiercely for the Time Turner, "just some time."

"You can't. It's wrong," Richard argued, as he clearly struggled to restrain her, despite his large build.

"Screw you!" Hermione snapped as she continued to fight.

"It's not your fault. Your parents wouldn't want this," Richard said.

"Give it back," she said, elbowing him repeatedly.

"It's not your fault. Your parents wouldn't want this," he repeated.

"Get off!" she screamed. Now throwing punches at Richard's body.

"It's not your fault. Your parents wouldn't want this," he chanted.

"Stop saying that," her voice turned dangerously low as she spoke through her teeth.

"It's not your fault. Your parents wouldn't want this," he said for the fourth time.

Hermione still squirmed but, she stopped trying to hurt him.

"Just one call. I can prevent this," she said, her voice defeated.

"I know but, it's not your fault. Your parents wouldn't want this," Richard loosened his grip, placing the Time Turner an arm's length away. Hermione began crying on his shoulder but, he didn't flinch, holding her tightly.

"I didn't get to say good bye," Hermione sobbed uncontrollably into his chest.

"You know your parents loved you," Richard said.

Hermione bawled, "I need them."

Richard took a deep breath saying, "I had no idea you were that selfish." Hermione stared at him in disbelief, looking like a wild woman, her eyes puffy and red. "Your parents are in a better place. Why would you ask them to come back to face this world again so, you can tell them stuff they already know?"

Richard braced himself for the onslaught of pain that was bound to come but, instead Hermione sighed in defeat. He guided her over to the couch and once they were settled, Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and letting out all of the emotions she was feeling without holding back.

Snape looked over at the Hermione, who was standing next to him, crying. When she realized he was watching her, she wiped her eyes apologizing, "I'm sorry I'm such a mess. It's been a long time since I've watched some of these memories. It's like he is talking to me now. As if there were no time between us."

"Maybe he was a Seer," Snape said thoughtfully.

Hermione chuckled, "Talk about irony if that were the case."

Back in the memory, Hermione sat up, taking a few deep steadying breaths. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with this. I'll understand if you leave and never come back," she said to Richard, casting her eyes over to the side. Richard stood up, walking to the kitchen and pouring two glasses of water and then sitting back down next to her.

"Hermione, I'm not going anywhere. If anything, this has shown me another beautiful side of you," Richard responded. Hermione let out a very un-ladylike snort.

"Seriously, 'Mione, don't be afraid of your humanity. It's the most beautiful thing you have."

She smiled lightly. Glad her face was still red from crying so that he wouldn't notice her blush.

"I must confess, I was almost happy when you pulled out the Time Turner because it meant that I didn't have to keep any secrets from you anymore," Richard continued.

Hermione looked at him, eyes dancing with emotion. She had clearly forgotten the little detail that she was living in the Muggle world, where putting on a necklace and disappearing wasn't common.

Richard stood, walked over to his back pack in the corner and pulled out a long redwood wand. With a light swish, he transfigured his cup of water into a bouquet of flowers and back into water again, except he didn't transfigure a glass and the water spilled everywhere. Hermione laughed lightly and summoned her wand with her hand out stretched to accept it she lightly flicking it to dry the water.

"Obviously, you were better in school than I was," Richard said trying to lighten the mood.

Hermione smiled, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "I know you did it on purpose," she rested her head back on his shoulder.

The memory began to blur, while the two remained on the couch chatting. "I'll spare you from the rest," Hermione said turning to Snape with a playful look on her face.

"A little first year level snogging?" Snape replied, sounding somewhat disgusted.

Hermione laughed, "I hardly think at that point I was snogging at a first year level but, no is the answer to your question. We discussed arrangements for my parents' funeral. He came with me to Australia, staying by my side the whole time I sat through meetings with lawyers, going to banks, standing with me in the rain, while they covered my parents' matching coffins.

"We were married about a year after this memory. I had finished school and we both just wanted to change the world so, we entered the Peace Corp. Originally, they had us in South America but, it didn't take them long to discover that we had a gift for starting schools and organizing support. They moved us to Africa, where they were in the process of starting up a lot of new missions. About two years in, we found a small town in Uganda that needed a lot of help. We spent six years building a hospital and a school and bringing in people to staff and teach.

The room began to shift, morphing until they were standing in the woods. Snape watched as Hermione walked through the woods, picking fruit off the trees and putting them in a basket she held against her hip. "This was the day that I lost him," Hermione said.

Snape looked over at her, watching as she watched her old self murmur contentedly. Suddenly a gun shot rang out causing both Hermiones jumped. In the memory, Hermione turned, listening intently and trying to figure out where the shot had come from. In a few seconds, there was no question that it was coming from the village and it wasn't just one gunshot but, many over and over, never stopping. She dropped everything and ran towards the village as fast as she could, cursing herself the entire way for leaving her wand. Hermione was just about to be in the clearing that lead to the village, when someone tackled her to the ground.

"Get off," Hermione said as she fought for control.

"Don't be ridiculous, Teacher," the voice said. "You can't do anything right now."

Hermione looked at Snape's startled expression and explained, "That's Charity. She was one of my students that came in one day of the street."

"I have to try!" Hermione exclaimed hopelessly.

"You're no good dead," the young woman snapped. "Stay down and be quiet." Charity rolled off Hermione, into the grass. They both remained perfectly still. Hermione had to cover her own mouth as she watched people getting dragged out of their house and shot while other children were being taken away into the forest.

"This is a small group. They'll come back later to finish the job," Charity said as she watched with a trained eye.

"How do you know this?" Hermione asked.

"I was in the Lord's Resistance Army for five years before I escaped and came here," Charity explained.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Hermione asked.

Charity just shrugged as she continued watching the children being taken away into the darkening forest. A few moments later, there was complete silence.

Hermione went to go stand up but, Charity grabbed her arm. "Wait," she whispered.

Hermione froze, watching for a few excruciating moments, as a man walked out, making his rounds and looking into the cabins. Hermione saw him double checked each place for movement when suddenly, the sound of a large group of people coming through the forest took his attention. "It's the police from the next village," Charity explained. "Don't move until I tell you. They tend to shoot first and ask questions later."

Charity waited until the lone attacker ran off. "Innocent," Charity yelled in the native tongue, then got up, waving her arms in defeat. One of the men took aim but, stopped himself just before he fired. The rest of the men all lowered their guns, yelling for her to come forward. "I have a friend with me. She needs to start looking for survivors," Charity said.

"Where is she?" one of the men asked.

Charity leaned over, helping Hermione stand. Together, they walked towards the group of men. "As soon as they nod, go see if you can find any of the living. They are going to need attention." Just as Hermione and Charity were in eye sight of the men, one of them nodded towards them. Hermione ran immediately for the hospital, while Charity began checking homes.

Once there, Hermione was surrounded by blood, more than she had ever seen in one place. She began searching, looking every face over with a steady eye. Some were children, while others were adults and even the elderly.

Hermione blinked away fresh tears, "To this day, I can still name each person in here by name, and I could tell you who is missing." Snape felt sick to his stomach. That was one thing about Wizarding wars. They were very rarely this bloody. Avada Kedavra seemed almost civilized compared to being massacred like this with guns and knives.

Hermione walked into the backroom, checking some for a pulse but, mostly just looking closely at each face. "Can anyone hear me?" Hermione called out. She heard a faint reply; it was like a ghost whispering in her ear, "'Mione."

She ran towards the sound, throwing all of the furniture in her way aside with ease, calling for him all the while, "Richard!" - anything to get him to answer her,

When she found him, he was halfway under a bed. She fell by his side, talking lightly to him, as she tried to stop his bleeding from his abdomen. "Don't worry, love. We'll have you fixed up in a minute," she assured him.

"'Mione," he whispered as he took her hand, moving it from his wound to his chest just over his struggling heart.

"No, Richard, I need to keep pressure on it," she said, as she tried to pull her hand away but he held it tightly. She began to cry.

"Hermione," his voice was soft and sweet. He motioned for her to lean closer. She did. "I love you and as long as you know that, my life was well lived."

"Stop this! You're not going to die! You have to let my hand go so, I can stop the bleeding," she said with tears pouring down her face.

"Mione, lie down with me," Richard pleaded. Hermione couldn't refuse and he was holding on to her hand so tightly that she couldn't bring herself to make him let go. Hermione slowly lied down beside him. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and she brought her head down to rest on his shoulder. He continued to hold her hand close to his heart and Hermione continued to cry.

"Hermione, I just want you to listen right now," Richard stated. "I want you to move on after this. You can mourn me, you can be sad but, eventually go out into the world and attack it like I know you can." Hermione didn't say anything. She just cried.

"Eventually, fall in love again but, don't sacrifice who you are for the sake of mourning," Richard leaned down, kissing the top of her head. "I love you, and even though you're mad at me right now, I also know you love me too."

Hermione held his hand back tightly and said, "Richard, I don't know how to let you go."

Richard chuckled slightly, closing his eyes. Hermione stayed by his side until moments later, he took his last breath and the grip he had on her hand loosened slightly. Hermione looked up at him. He was so peaceful. She looked around at all of the blood and all of the bodies, lightly kissing Richard on the cheek. She was just about to stand up, when she heard a faint cry from under the bed.

She pulled Richard's lifeless body out of the way, looking underneath. There was a small boy, not much older than Nathaniel. "Rundi," Hermione reached under, pulling him out.

"Teacher, I'm so sorry. I was too scared to hide so, Doctor hid me and he's dead because I wouldn't hide. I was scared," The young boy cried.

Hermione reached down, picking him up. "Rundi, it wasn't your fault," Hermione assured him as he buried his head in her shoulder. "I'm going to take you," Hermione said calmly. She walked him out, passing all of the bodies and blood and handing him to Charity, who had found two other small children. The image began to fade.

"He could have changed the world." Hermione inhaled deeply, "As you can see, I'm not particularly good at mourning."

"No, you're not," Snape agreed. "But, I don't think anyone is very good at it."

"It really just hit me this morning that I had been mourning incorrectly, so to speak. I assumed that to mourn well meant that you learned how to accept death but, as I thought of Richard and my parents, and as I stand here with you, I realize that to mourn well means that you accept life," Hermione replied reflectively.

Snape stood silent for a while, before smiling and asking, "That's deep. Would you like that etched on your head stone?"

Hermione chuckled, "Let's pencil that one in for now. I would like to think that I have several good years of deep thought left in me."

Snape looked around, noticing that the scene had melted away and they were back in the blank dome. There was a dim light coming from behind them, "Is that the way out?" Snape asked. Hermione nodded. When he opened his eyes, he was still sitting at his table with Hermione eyeing him cautiously.

"Did that answer all of your questions?" Hermione asked him, as his eyes came into focus.

"I already had most of the information. This was just a matter of affirming what I already knew," Snape explained.

Hermione shook her head, rolling her eyes, "I'm glad that baring my soul helped you to affirm your assumptions."

"There is one question that remains unanswered but, I really just wanted to get to know you better," Snape said a little more assuring. "When you handed me those papers at the hearing, I barely recognized you, and when I saw you in John's office I almost didn't believe it was you."

"And now?" Hermione asked.

"You are a completely different person. I've never taught you or seen you before. You are a brilliant woman. The one question that was not answered simply is, is there room in your future for me?"

Hermione looked up at him, raising an eyebrow as she thought about her answer carefully. "Severus, I am not looking for a soul mate. I've had one of those before. However, I'm also not looking for a casual fling, because I've seen how wonderful it is to love someone selflessly. That being said, you can bet I don't play games. If I'm going to kiss you, I'm going to be emotionally invested. I do worry but, I know that I've never looked forward to seeing someone every day, like I look forward to seeing you."

"I can't replace Richard," Snape said bluntly.

"I would never ask you to. Richard was one of a kind and I will never love anyone like I loved him. Yet, I'm willing to bet that regardless of where our relationship takes us, it is going to be special," Hermione offered.

Snape reached his long slender fingers across the table, reaching towards Hermione's hand. She slid her hand closer to his but, the moment was ended abruptly by a knock on the door. Hermione looked at her watch, "Damn, six already," she huffed.

Snape looked frustrated, "We didn't even finish dinner yet."

Hermione shrugged, "It's probably cold anyway."

Leaving the table, they both went into the kitchen to clear off their plates. "Go get the door," Hermione ordered, "You're far more menacing. It'll give us an advantage in classroom management."

"I see you did learn something in that Muggle school of yours," Snape encouraged, as he walked towards the door. Preparing his dark and brooding face, he swept silently across the living room, throwing open the door quickly. His eyes widened, as he looked at the scene before him. Nothing had prepared him for this.

* * *

AN: Can you taste resolution?


	14. In Sole Ownership

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter universe. I just borrow shamelessly.

* * *

Instead of five kids staring back at him, Snape was stunned to see at least twelve. It looked to him like every child in the building had decided that they were going to come up to take lessons. Snape stepped aside. "Find a seat," he said sternly.

Hermione walked out of the kitchen, her eyes wide with shock as she watched all of the children pile into the living room. Four of the kids walked up to Hermione, handing her an envelope. The oldest of the group was Aurora, handing her envelope to Hermione, said, "My mom told me to give this to you and to tell you to tell her if it wasn't enough." Aurora didn't give Hermione a chance to respond before she took a seat in the living room with the rest of the children. Snape's eyes told Hermione to deal with it later, as the kids stared up between the two adults, waiting patiently.

Snape looked the group over, saying, "Let's begin with everyone telling me their name."

Snape nodded to Aurora, who stated clearly, "Aurora, sir."

Next was Jacob, Emily, and Sarah and after them was a short ruddy boy, "My name is Jeremy and these are my sister's Jackie, Jasmine and Jenny."

"Thank you Jeremy but, I believe I only asked you to introduce yourself. Next time, please allow your sisters the opportunity to answer for themselves," Snape looked to Ivan, who introduced himself, followed by Taylor, and finally, Fred and Nathaniel.

He began to pace and Hermione recognized the technique from when she had been in school. It had lost some of its intimidation with the removal of the cloak and dismal lighting of the dungeons but, a moving target was far more difficult to analyze. "I'm sure you all had some idea about what you would be learning when you came here today and this is the last you'll hear me talk about this: leave all of your expectations at home. What we'll be doing is completely different than anything you've probably ever encountered, and since there is no foolish wand-waving here, some of you will hardly believe this is magic. However, when you leave here and go into the real world, you will understand the power that runs through your veins and the beauty of a perfectly controlled spell." He spoke barely above a whisper but, had every single child's undivided attention.

"Who has ever been told that a wand is necessary for magic?" Snape asked. Twelve hands shot up in the air. "Who here has a wand?" All twelve hands fell back into their respective laps. "Then I suppose we'll need to make do with what we have," Snape said with a devilish grin.

"Now everyone stand up and pair off," Snape requested. The group began to mutter but, Snape squashed the noise quickly, "And do so quietly."

In a few moments, everyone was paired with someone next to them. Hermione brought in six plastic cups, setting three of them on the dinning room table and the others on the coffee table. She transfigured each cup into a metronome, starting them all but, unlike a normal metronome these didn't make any noise. "Your job today is to stop them within the hour. You are not allowed to touch them," Hermione instructed.

She walked to the dinning room table, "I need three groups to come over here." Jeremy, Ivan, Taylor and Jacob all ran over to the table, in hopes that they would get to work with Hermione, who was much less fearsome. Emily and Jenny also walked over but, with a little more calm, giving the boys a teasing look. Hermione glanced at Snape, who was clearly pleased with this reaction, saying, "Thank you for volunteering so eagerly boys. You will be working with Mr. Prince today." Jeremy and Ivan looked completely abashed, while Nathaniel also looked displeased with the set up as he had been hoping to work with Snape again.

Hermione and Snape traded places, sitting down at the tables and encouraging the kids to begin. Nathaniel was the first to show any real progress, as he managed to slow his metronome down fairly quickly. After a few minutes though, his head began to hurt so, Hermione encouraged him to stop and let Jackie have a chance. Aurora was the first to stop hers completely, followed by Emily.

Hermione and Snape would explain magical theory while the kids were working through trying to stop the swinging metronomes. As each would complete the exercise, they would encourage their partner, until everyone had stopped the machine completely twice, without any hesitation. Hermione looked at the clock, noticing that they still had fifteen minutes. Making sure that all of the metronomes were completely stopped, she turned to the group, saying "Now, everyone, try to get it started."

There was a murmur of excitement, as all twelve eyes focused intently. Snape walked up to her, whispering into her ear, "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Snape asked watching, as needles began to quiver and mechanics began to grumble.

"Just another lesson," Hermione whispered back as Snape gave her an unsure look. "Those cups I used...they didn't have any sentimental value, right?" Hermione asked him quietly.

"No," Snape replied, before he registered the implication. Hermione closed her eyes, filling the room suddenly with cracking and snapping, as six metronomes fell apart at the seems. There was a large, collective gasp, as the kids tried to place them back together and pick up all the parts.

Hermione brought in a trashcan, banishing all of the pieces into it. "And that is why you need to remember to be careful with magic. It's a certainly wonderful thing and definitely makes life easier however, it requires absolute patience and control." All of the kids were absorbing every word she said. "Does any one have any questions?"

They looked around at each other and Jacob slowly raised his hand. "Is there anything we can do to practice?" He asked in a soft voice.

Snape stepped forward to answer the question, "As you can see, magic can be very dangerous so, in the safety of your home feel free to try things like we did today, stopping a moving object and making a still one move. Remember to start small."

"Any more questions," Hermione added.

Twelve heads shook from side to side. "Alright, then we will see you next Saturday," Snape said, as he motioned them all to the door.

Aurora stopped before Snape, extending her hand to him. He took her offered hand, shaking lightly. "Thank you, sir, for allowing me to participate."

"How old are you, Aurora?" Snape asked. She was very clearly above the other students in terms of maturity.

"Fourteen. My mom and dad were never able to afford to send me to a teacher for long so, I only know how to suppress my powers. When Emily told me that she saw you and Ms. Jukofsky using magic without wands, I begged my mom to let me come," She revealed to them.

Hermione walked towards the two, saying, "And was it everything that you expected?"

Aurora nodded with a smile and then without warning she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Hermione's waist and saying, "Please keep teaching. It's the only way I could ever be a real witch."

Hermione patted Aurora on the shoulder reassuringly. "You are a brilliant witch, Aurora, and you will always have a place here."

"Thank you," the young girl said. She quickly snuck a hug around Snape's waist as well, before she flew out the door.

Snape remained still in the doorway and Hermione leaned against the wall, watching him, trying to decide whether he was irritated or not by the incident. He turned to Hermione, taking a few, slow steps towards her with a deep scowl, "That would have never happened at Hogwarts."

With a warm smile she said, "I've decided it's the cloak. You aren't nearly as threatening without it."

"I thought it was the hair cut," Snape replied sarcastically touching the black strands on his head, stopping his progression as he stood directly in front of her, his deep, dark eyes staring down into hers.

"Maybe it's a combination of the two," she suggested, raising her hand to cup his cheek. He leaned down, planting his soft lips onto her own, for a chaste kiss that made her heart skip a beat. It ended just as quickly as it had started, leaving Hermione smiling up at him as he stepped back from her slightly.

Hermione leaned down, picking up the wastebasket of broken parts at her feet, "Do you want me to fix these?"

"No, we can probably use them in another lesson," Snape said after a moments hesitation. His stomach then let out a long low growl, "I think now would be a good chance to start on that dessert you made."

As he moved towards the kitchen, Hermione flopped down on one of his couches, saying with a sigh, "That sounds like a wonderful idea."

Snape walked back into the kitchen, serving them each a bowl of the fruit pudding she had made earlier. Taking it out to Hermione, he sat down on the chair adjacent from her, taking a bite out of his chilled dessert, "So what's the next step?"

Hermione thought for a moment, then saying, "We're going to need a bigger place."

"Do you know of any places in the area we can use?" He questioned.

"As long as we're only doing lessons on Saturday night, we would be able to use one of the empty conference rooms where I work," Hermione stated.

"How long do you think we'll be teaching on only Saturday nights?" Snape asked.

Hermione thought about Aurora, Sarah, and Emily who were already too old to start school at Beauxbatons, Durmstrang or Hogwarts. "I can't do this alone but, I also wouldn't expect you to spend more time than you want to," Hermione admitted.

Snape rolled he eyes, "You walked in here with a list of expectations and now you're going to pretend like I have an option?"

Hermione smirked, busted. "I realized after today's class that this is going to have to be something you really want to do because the classes are only going to get bigger."

"Let's face it, you're going to need my experience. I think you know that if I didn't truly want to do this, I wouldn't. I retract my previous statement that I hate teaching and accept that this is a tolerable way to keep busy," Snape replied.

"Even though, you could be researching," Hermione asked.

"I was told it was a half baked hypothesis anyway," Snape replied with a chuckle.

They both went back to their desserts. As she finished her bowl, Hermione remembered the envelops stuffed in her pocket. She reached in, taking them out and noticing that each one had a thank-you note with money in it. Hermione looked at the notes, and then at the smile pile of maraka, the local currency.

"Are you thinking about money again?" Snape eyed her perplexed look.

"No but, clearly that's a worry of yours. This is the third time you've brought it up." Hermione replied bluntly.

Snape sighed, "You caught me." He gestured surrender. "Would you believe me if I told you that even Hogwarts wasn't completely self-sufficient?"

"No," Hermione replied, "But, I'll give you the next few minutes to convince me."

"To continue running at the such a great capacity required substantial support from outside donors that wouldn't make it into Hogwarts: A History," Snape said coarsely. Hermione ignored the jab, waiting for him to continue. "And you saw how someone well off could influence the system."

"Someone like Malfoy," Hermione clarified.

Snape nodded, "I had asked Albus if there was any way to allow the school to continue on it's own without outside assistance and he said that as long as they paid the teacher's checks they would have to stay."

"Viktor told me that Durmstrang was self-sufficient and the same with Beauxbatons," Hermione argued. "Hogwarts is a wonderful place but, we don't have to make a duplicate."

"Clearly," Snape said as he stood taking his bowl back to the kitchen. Hermione jumped up, following him.

"Tell me, what did you see when I mentioned making this more than just something we did for Linda's family," Hermione asked.

"It doesn't matter what I saw. You are going to do what you want," Snape replied coldly.

Hermione stopped in her tracks. Where did that come from? "Severus, I'm not Albus Dumbledore." At her words, Snape stopped as well.

He turned around, "And what am I to assume that means?"

Hermione sighed, "It means that I don't want to tell you what to do. I want this to be a partnership, where when you think I'm out of line you tell me so and if i ask you to do something that you think is ridiculous you tell me to go jump off a cliff."

Snape raised an eye brow, "And what will you do if I say 'No' and it's to something that you really want?" He questioned.

Hermione shrugged, "I would consider your position on the matter, and then I would probably do it myself."

Snape scoffed, "How does that make you any different from him?"

"You can leave me if you want," she said softly. "You owe me nothing. You're free."

Snape growled but, said nothing. He gathered the dishes into the sink, washing them. Hermione looked around but, found there was really nothing for her to do. "Would you like some help?" She asked.

"No, thank you," Snape replied as he continued to wash, rinse and dry each dish with his wand out giving directions.

"Then, I think I'll go home," Hermione said lightly. "I need to draw up some more plans for the school and I think you need some time to get together what you would like to see in the classes, as well." Hermione explained.

Snape shrugged, "Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hermione walked up, kissed him on the cheek and gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Good night, Severus. " He didn't reply but, continued with the dishes.

~~~  
Normally on Sunday, Hermione would clean her apartment in the morning but, since she had taken care of that the day before, she began working on long term goal for the pulled out several notebooks worth of notes that she had taken on the matter while in Africa and wrote down anything that she needed to do to make this a reality, with an approximate time that it would need to be completed by. After several hours, she stood up, looking at the notes. At the bottom of her note pad was a number - 30,000 marakas - the amount they were going to need to get the school started. Not bad.  
Hermione was about to start planning fundraising events, when there was a knock at her door. "Come in," she called over.  
Jacob and Emily walked in. "Mom wanted us to invite you over for lunch," Jacob said shyly.

Hermione smiled to the two, "I'll be there." Jacob turned quickly, leaving, while Emily smiled politely, before turning to leave. Once she had left, Hermione put away her notes, sticking them in her purse - she would bring it to Snape's after lunch so, he could look at it.

She walked down stairs to check her mail before lunch. Nothing had been added since Friday, however, she did take the permanent occupant out, staring at it for a moment. Hermione Cayer from First National Bank and Trust. She tore it open, reading the letter. Apparently, Richard hadn't been a the poor college student, like she had. The next three pages of the letter were a list of assets, of which she was now the soul owner. Richard had always just said that his parents, who had died years before they had met, had run a business. Yet, from the looks of the list, his parents had run a multi-million dollar business in oil. Hermione flipped through page after page. He had been the only child and his parents had left everything to him, and he in turn had left everything to her. Hermione leaned against the mail boxes, shocked.

That was how Snape found her, when he came down ten minutes later. "Are you on your way to Linda's?" Snape asked conversationally, while he opened his own box that he hadn't been checked in a while. He thought that mail boxes were a little out dated, considering an owl could just deliver it to your back window, saving you the trip. He supposed it was still a part of the wizards in this area's desperate attempt to remain completely anonymous to the muggles around them. After pulling the one letter out of his box, he looked at Hermione, finally registering that she hadn't moved in the entire time he had been down there.

"Is everything alright, Hermione." He asked under his breath.

She turned, her eyes wide, as she noticed him there for the first time. She held the envelope out for him to take. "It's been sitting in my box from months," Hermione offered, as Snape took the letter out, reading it.

He finished the first page and moved quickly through the following ones, eyes widening as he looked down the lists of assets. After flipping back, rereading the first page, he stuck everything back in the envelop, like someone trying to hide a pile of cash. Hermione took it back from him in the same manner, stuffing it into her purse out of view.

"I...um... this morning I worked on the school proposal," Hermione finally managed in an attempt to change the subject. She was still frazzled.

Snape clasped her shoulder reassuringly, "I certainly think we can discuss that but, we have lunch with Linda right now."

Hermione looked relieved but, still slightly unnerved. "The children. They don't know. About us."

"I think they got quite an eyeful yesterday afternoon."

"That's not what I was referring to," Hermione said with a smirk.

Snape smirked, "I know. Let's go, heiress. We don't want to be late to meet the common folk."

"Two minutes - that's how long it took me to regret showing you those papers," Hermione glared.

Snape smiled, "I suppose that's not my best time."

Hermione took the stairs at a faster pace, blasting past him and up to the fourth floor. Snape assumed she was going to enter without him but, by the time he made it up to the fourth floor, she was still there staring nervously at Linda's door.

"Are you going to go in?" Snape asked raising his hand to knock.

Hermione frantically reached forward, stopping him. "Wait."

"Hermione, this is Linda. She said that she was fine with you having a past. I'm sure she wouldn't have invited us over for lunch otherwise."

"But the kids still don't know," Hermione said frustratedly.

Snape sighed, "Then why don't you have them over for dinner. Tell them a story and then drop the bomb, just like we discussed. I still think that's the best idea."

Hermione nodded, "It is, but..."

Snape reached forward, taking her hand and squeezing it reassuringly, "I'll be there. You don't have face this alone."

Hermione sighed, squeezing his hand back before letting go so she could knock on the door when a new worry had etched itself on her face. He turned her shoulder so, they were facing each other. Hermione's eyes stayed cast down. "Hermione, look at me," Snape ordered.

Slowly, she glanced up at him with her deep brown eyes and he continued, "As long as you want me here. I am here. We're partners."

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into," Hermione said with half-hearted smile.

Snape turned back to the door, knocking, "I can't wait to find out."

* * *

AN: All that's left now is the epilogue. Which is written, I'm just waiting on a final approval from my beta. We ran out of hours in the day.


	15. Epilogue: In Accord

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter Universe. I bow to the genius of JK Rowling.

A Huge Thank you to DZAuthor AKA DZMom who provided the majority of the Chapter titles and the structure for all of them, and to my always loved and under appriciated Beta, CatchHouse21, who owns her fair share of lines in the story.

* * *

10 years later.

In a large stone castle in Northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hermione was sitting at a large half-moon desk, flipping through page after page of costs and expenses. Her hair, which had grown back to the length it had been at Hogwarts, was frizzy from the number of times she had run her fingers through it that day. The circular office was large, with walls filled from floor to ceiling with books and notebooks. On one wall was a picture of Hermione with Snape and the twelve kids who had come to their very first lesson. She and the children were smiling brightly, while Snape seemed to be impassive as usual. Yet, upon closer inspection, one could see the corner of his mouth was slightly upturned.

The door to the office flew open, as Snape stormed in. He had just come back from checking the mail, his arms full to capacity. "What are you doing on my desk?"

"I'm balancing the book so, unless you want to do them yourself, I suggest you just wait one more minute," Hermione growled.

Snape walked up to the desk, dropping the mail in one of the baskets and walking back across the room, he picked up the book he had been pouring through earlier. After a few moments, Hermione looked up putting down her quill.

Snape glanced up from his reading, "So, what's the verdict? Are the children going to starve?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "No. In fact, we'll be able to give the staff a lovely bonus this year."

Snape walked over, looking across the desk at her figures, "And where does that leave us for the following year?"

"We even have money for everything, as well as for our emergency funding,"

Snape took the book from her, taking a closer look. "So, we've done it. We're officially on our own." Hermione nodded. "I'm waiting for an I-told-you-so," Snape said to the uncommonly quiet woman.

Hermione looked up at him, her eyes now glittering with excitement, "We did it, Severus. We did it!" She jumped up, prancing around the room. He hadn't seen her that happy since they had won the bid for the land that the castle now sat on.

"Well, you go ahead and prance like a fairy. I have work to do," Snape took a seat in the chair she had just vacated, picking up the stack of mail. He began reading out loud the person they were addressed to, as he sorted them into piles. "Headmaster Snape, Deputy Headmistress, trash, Hermione Cayer, Ms. Jukofsky, Severus Snape, Hermione Granger, me, me, me, trash, Deputy Headmistress Cayer, Professor Snape." With the piles sorted, he looked up at her. She had calmed down, now shuffling through her pile of mail. "I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who can't get your name right."

Hermione smiled coyly. "What are you talking about?"

"You've gone through so many different names that nobody knows what to call you, " Snape clarified.

"Well, we know I'm not above changing my name. Is there one that you feel would be easier to remember? Smith, perhaps? How about Jane Doe? Maybe we could go big - Queen Victoria?" Hermione laughed.

"Don't be ridiculous," Snape said as he leaned back in his chair bringing his fingers together in front of him, as she mused at her own humor. "I think that you should keep your first name. I've become sort of fond of it over the years," Hermione remained focused on opening her mail. "Snape," he said simply.

Hermione stopped, "What?"

"Hermione Snape," he reiterated. "That would certainly be easier for me to remember."

Hermione placed her mail down on the table, "That's the only thing that will be easy about it."

Snape nodded, "What do you say?"

Hermione looked at him, as if she expected him to retract the statement after letting it sink in. "Well, try not to get too excited," Snape replied after a few stiff seconds.

"You're serious," Hermione said in shock.

"Why else would I be carrying a ring in my pocket for the last two months?" He asked

Hermione thought for a moment, "Yes, of course!" A huge smile spread across her face, as she looked down at Snape, who smirked back but, neither one moved. "When?" She asked finally.

"Right now," Snape said standing up, crossing around the desk to get to her. Hermione's eyes widened as he took her hand in his and got down on one knee, saying, "We can run over to the Ministry whenever you're ready," Snape suggested, pressing a small white gold ring into her hand. She took her hand back, looking at the ring now resting in her palm. It was just a simple band with runes etched expertly on the inside and the out.

Hermione fell to her knees in front of him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "But Linda, Mina and Sam...if we marry without them..." Hermione began but, Snape cut her off when he brought his lips to hers. The stress, the doubt, and every bone in her body began to melt, as she fell deeply into his liquorish scent and warm lips. She pulled away after a moment, "We'll send them an owl when we get back," she said breathlessly, pulling him to the door.

FIN

* * *

AN: Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and even though I am going to be locked away in the convent I would still love to have the opportunity to look back and see what you thought about it. It's been a pleasure.  
Peace,  
Sazari


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